June 15, 2011

He's being awarded with the key to the city.

Though I have no idea why.

A statement from the mayor's office explained that "Gene has spent his life and career overcoming challenges and creating success in business and family by remaining true to his roots and values", which baffles me since this is the guy who has claimed to have slept with over 5,000 women.

Though that being said, other recipients of this "prestigious award" include Henry Winkler aka The Fonz, and Bob Geldof -the guy who co-wrote 'Do They Know It's Christmas?'.

It seems like a really cheap, sad ploy for attention from the mayor's office to go handing out Keys to the City to any B-list celebrity we can find

(and yes, at this point in his career I fully consider Gene Simmons to be a B-list celebrity -once you do reality TV, that's what you become, I'm sorry)

and what baffles me is that we have regular, A-list celebs that come through here shooting movies and whatnot all the time, and these are the people we choose to honour? I think it really speaks to how out-of-touch our mayor is with the times if he can't present an award to someone who was hip when he was in junior high.

Maybe we should start a trend towards awarding awards like this to people who actually do things for Winnipeg or represent the city in a positive way, like Jon Montgomery who was given the key to the city after winning the Gold Medal in Men's Skeleton in the 2010 Winter Olympics (intense!).

What about someone like Guy Maddin, Fred Penner, Wanda Koop, Burton Cummings (not that his ego needs it), or even freaking Anna Paquin from True Blood if you want a current celeb?!

There are actually a whole whack of famous and interesting people who were born and/or raised in Winnipeg (like Tommy Douglas! Represent!) who could be given this award, and honestly this whole event feels like an opportunity for the mayor to have an excuse to meet someone he thinks is cool, and isn't genuinely beneficial for the city itself at all.

So good job Sam Katz! I'm glad that being mayor has provided you with yet another opportunity to inflate your massive ego.