Gene Simmons Settles Suit

Gene Simmons can kiss this suit goodbye.

The KISS demon has amicably resolved a defamation lawsuit brought by an ex-girlfriend accusing him of defaming her in the VH1 rockumentary When KISS Ruled the World.

According to a joint statement released by Simmons and Georgeann Walsh Ward, the 55-year-old "Calling Dr. Love" auteur offered a mea culpa to Ward, but did not pay her any money to settle. In return, Ward acknowledged that the tongue-wagging rocker played no role in the production or editing of the special.

The suit, filed in January 2005 in Manhattan Supreme Court, claimed that the juxtaposition of commentary by Simmons talking about his love life with photos of Ward cast her in a false light. The images, Ward asserted in court papers, unfairly portrayed her as a "sexually loose, immoral, unchaste woman."

In Wednesday's resolution, the bassist-vocalist, who initially denied the allegations in the lawsuit, attempted to clarify his remarks in the documentary.

"I value my early relationship with Ms. Ward and wish her well," the musician declared.. "My quotes in the documentary that Ms. Ward took issue with were solely about me, not Ms. Ward or anyone else."

According to her complaint, Ward, a 53-year-old native of Chester, New York, alleged she had an "exclusive, monogamous, romantic relationship" with Simmons when she was a 21-year-old college student and he was living with his mother in Queens--before he shot to fame as the blood-spitting monster-faced member of KISS.

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