Kiss’s former guitarist Ace Frehley is once again expressing animosity about the way his former bandmates treated him after his departure. This comes after he reportedly declined to attend a fan event entitled Kiss Kruize: Landlocked in Las Vegas. When asked by Guitar World why he would not be at the event Frehley insinuated that he was unhappy with the fact that he was not invited to play Kiss’s final shows at Madison Square Garden. His direct statement was “”Their biggest mistake is that they should have done that at Madison Square Garden, not in Las Vegas in a 5000-seater, or whatever it is.” 

This is a reassertion of Frehley’s claim that he was not in fact invited to play with the rest of the band at Madison Square Garden. Something which directly contradicts statements made by Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley who maintain that Frehley was invited to play those final shows. Reporting by Blabbermouth.net, adds another interesting wrinkle to this story as they dredged up an interview from 2023 where Frehley maintains that he never received an official invitation to play the show but also makes sure to note that any formal invitation would have to come alongside a hefty sum of money. “If I got a quarter of a million dollars a night, and I can make half a million dollars for playing three or four songs, five songs, I’d take the money…I don’t really wanna play with those guys ever again after what they’ve done, but money can change my mind.” Frehley continues on this thread later in the interview saying “If I get a formal invitation with a check, I’ll be there. But they’ve gotta have deep pockets… If they don’t wanna pay me, I won’t be there, ladies and gentleman.”

Given all of this context, it seems reasonable to assume Frehley’s primary motivator for electing not to attend the Kiss Kruize was the simple fact that he wasn’t being offered enough money. As far as his involvement in the final Kiss shows remains unclear but needless to say, he was not offered the six figure deal he was looking for.