Gene Simmons Defends JoJo Siwa's Controversial Kiss-Inspired Look From iHeartRadio Music Awards: 'Never Be Ordinary'

Gene Simmons wants everyone to leave JoJo Siwa alone.

The Kiss rocker, 74, came out in defense of the Dance Moms alum, 20, after she received intense backlash for her rocker-inspired look at the 2024 iHeartRadio Music Awards.

Simmons revealed in a recent interview that he liked Siwa's "demon" look and noted how people who don't understand the outfit may just be jealous of her.

"Never be ordinary. Always be extraordinary. JoJo is extraordinary and she looks cool," the frontman said of the daring ensemble.

The Special Forces: World's Toughest Test star was slammed online for the wild get-up she wore to the Monday, April 1, awards show. "Why is JoJo Siwa doing Kiss cosplay?" one user on X, formerly known as Twitter, asked.

"Why does JoJo Siwa look like she just debuted as the latest WWE villain?" a second person questioned.

"Ummm.. JoJo Siwa looks a MESS," a third noted.

While walking the red carpet, Siwa touched upon her inspiration for the look and how she felt about receiving harsh comments on social media. "This is a costume from my music video for ‘Karma.’ This is my black beast. I love it," the ex-reality star explained of her new single coming out.

"I think people forget that my whole life has been criticized and judged and watched. It’s not easy. It’s very tough. I’ve had a lot of people say really cruel things to me, but I have a really good bubble of people," she noted.

When the entertainer was asked if she was worried about how people may receive the goth-looking outfit, she noted in a separate interview, "People are afraid of things they don’t know."

"Things can be scary for people. New things can be very, very scary," Siwa added of making the drastic change. "The way that I'm able to keep going and keep being like, wait, actually what I'm doing is right is because some of the most respected people in the world have come up to me and been like, 'What you're doing right now is so right.' It is what the world needs, and I'm learning from what you are doing right now.'"

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Siwa also touched on having total freedom with her latest musical release. "Creating art is such a special, special thing," she noted. "I'm very lucky that I get to be one of the people in the world that gets to create art."

TMZ spoke with Simmons about Siwa.

E! News conducted the second interview with Siwa about her outfit.