Gene Simmons, nee Chaim Witz, immigrated to the United States with his mother when he was eight years old. In the 56 years since, Simmons has carved out a place in music history with his band, KISS, and become a cultural icon. As an immigrant who found such monumental success, he has some blunt advice for others who come to America in search of prosperity.
Simmons stopped by HuffPost Live on Monday to chat about KISS's new tour and the reality series "4th and Loud," which documents the band's Arena League football team, the Los Angeles Kiss. The conversation quickly turned into Simmons opining about immigrants today and their reluctance, in his mind, to learn English.
"I'm actually saying the thing that needs to be said because the politically-correct climate is bullshit," Simmons told host Ricky Camilleri. "You don't want to upset anybody by saying, 'Learn to speak goddamn English.' So, as an immigrant, I'm telling you: learn to speak goddamn English. It is the key that will unlock the keys to the kingdom."
Pressed on the matter, Simmons didn't back down from his position.
"How about this: if Siri can't understand you, you're in trouble," Simmons said.
Simmons expounded on his views for more than 10 minutes, as you can watch in the clip above. Catch the rest of Simmons' hijinks in the full HuffPost Live conversation here.
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