Editorial: Even an honored Kiss is better than UFC on the White House lawn

The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune on Aug 19, 2025

Published in Op Eds

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

For an early look at the culture wars, we suggest listening (if you can find it) to the 2002 interview with Gene Simmons, the Israel-born bass guitarist of Kiss, conducted by Terry Gross, the dignified host of NPR’s “Fresh Air.”

Things jumped the shark when the chat turned to the topic of the codpiece routinely worn on stage by Simmons, also notorious for his theatrically snaking tongue. “It holds in my manhood,” Simmons said to Gross, “otherwise it would be too much for you to take. You’d have to put the book down and confront life.”

That’s the printable part. Thereafter, Simmons appeared to crudely sexually proposition Gross who kept her dignity. “I would like to think that the personality you’ve presented on our show today is a persona that you’ve affected as a member of Kiss,” she said at the end of one of the most bizarre interviews in public radio history, “something you do on stage, before the microphone, but that you’re not nearly as obnoxious in the privacy of your own home or when you’re having dinner with friends.”

We aren’t so sure. Either way, Simmons did not deserve such generosity.

But now look at where we are.

NPR and WHYY-FM in Philadelphia are struggling to replace lost federal funding and Simmons is getting ready to strut across the stage of the Kennedy Center to receive one of the nation’s highest cultural honors from the president of the United States.

We suspect that if either Gross or Simmons had been told that future lay ahead, neither one of them would have believed it possible.

The spectacle of Trump’s Kennedy Center honors list is so absurd as to threaten to make us wordless. But we’re not so easily cowered.

We’ll let others huff and puff, as indeed they have and just observe for the umpteenth time that certain things in America are not supposed to be entirely about the taste of the president. Ya know?

What constitutes artistic excellence is not beyond political implication, of course. And Trump’s list is not the first to reflect some presidential preference. We don’t (outside of Simmons) even think it’s that terrible: Gloria Gaynor, George Strait, Sylvester Stallone and Michael Crawford are all compelling creatives, although the last named has actually done very few shows in the U.S., despite being a beloved U.K. actor. But he did do the one that mattered, albeit decades ago: “The Phantom of the Opera,” a musical that happens to be Trump’s favorite and one of the few he has actually seen.

Boom! Give the man an honor! (Although we were reliably informed that no one was more surprised to hear Trump’s announcement than Crawford; the president knows the danger of people turning him down.)

There’s nothing wrong with populist honorees or conservative honorees and, yes, a case could be made that past slates were a tad stuffy and/or curated to the taste of the liberal elite. A separate case could also be made that they don’t matter, like the Oscars or the Emmys or other such kudos.

True, as compared with Trump’s negotiations with Vladimir Putin, for sure. But for those who work in culture, they do reflect a lifetime of achievement, often at much personal cost. Whether or not one individual happened to walk through the door and tap his toe is incidental. There are those who follow these things and are available to advise presidents. We hope Trump might avail himself of one.

And no, Mr. President, honoring yourself next year is not really something done.

We wonder, though, what Gross, who is still at her microphone, might have to say if the rumors are true about an Ultimate Fighting Championship battle on the White House lawn coming up July Fourth. That level of debasement makes this year’s Kennedy Center honors look as benign as a celebration of “The Sound of Music.”

Fox News reported that first daughter Ivanka Trump, apparently a UFC fan, is pushing for the event as part of the nation’s 250th birthday celebrations. On a podcast, UFC President and CFO Dana White promised “the baddest card of all time.” God Save America.

Gross, we hope, has not been asked to do the color commentary.

_____