KISS FRONTMAN GENE SIMMONS APOLOGIZES FOR HIS RECENT COMMENTS ABOUT DEPRESSION
KISS bassist Gene Simmons who recently made some controversial comments about depression and suicide, has posted the following message on his Facebook page:
“I want to make this statement about my views on depression for the record and to clarify my prior remarks.
To the extent my comments reported by the media speak of depression, I was wrong and in the spur of the moment made remarks that in hindsight were made without regard for those who truly suffer the struggles of depression. I sincerely apologize to those who were offended by my comments. I recognize that depression is very serious and very sad when it happens to anyone, especially loved ones. I deeply support and am empathetic to anyone suffering from any disease, especially depression.
I have never sugarcoated my feelings regarding drug use and alcoholics. Somewhere along the line, my intention of speaking in very directly and perhaps politically incorrectly about drug use and alcoholics has been misconstrued as vile commentary on depression. Unkind statements about depression was certainly never my intention. Fully, you will know that and I do not intend to defend myself here and now, by listing the myriad charities and self-help organizations I am involved with. Rather, I simply want to be clear that my heart goes out to anyone suffering from depression and I deeply regret any offhand remarks in the heat of an interview that might have suggested otherwise.”
Simmons has received criticism for his comments from Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx, who described the KISS frontman’s statements as “moronic”.
Thanks to Gene for stepping up and correcting this. Whether he himself realized he made an awful mistake or someone got in his ear and persuaded him to apologize doesn’t matter, just give the guy credit for knowing he needed to do the right thing and say he’s sorry for what he said.
.. hmm wasn’t it Gene Simmons that a short while back, defended someone who had said something racist? and wasn’t he the one who also said that poor people should be nice to rich people, because no poor person ever gave him a job?
Gene is a moron. His apology means nothing at all, it’s only damage control.
Valid point, it probably is just damage control, as I also thought it could be. And, as you point out, he’s made a habit of saying stupid things to the press. But this one could have had dangerous results because people suffering from depression don’t need to hear a pompous jerk telling them to kill themselves. Everyone has opinions but it’s become very apparent that Gene and Paul need to keep theirs to themselves.
We are officially changing the title to “God of Douchedom.”
Lmao……wow
He was wrong and admitted it-fair enough. Gene isn’t the only one who has these thoughts.
Hopefully, with Robin Williams’ suicide, this shines a light on just how serious this disease is. I hope that it becomes like the Chris Benoit tragedy-we don’t see concussions as being not a “big deal” anymore, I hope this happens with Williams’ suicide.
Chris suffered from extensive brain injuries that crippled him. He had suffered well over 30 significant concussions but never went for proper treatment & when he did he never followed Dr’s orders. And there was a lot more involved that most people never knew that led to the murder/suicide. Joe in The Cuse
Fully, you will know that and I do not intend to defend myself here and now, by listing the myriad charities and self-help organizations I am involved with.
Nice job of mentioning it without mentioning it Gene. Is there some sort of contest going on between him and Paul that we don’t know about where they made a bet on who can be the biggest douche and still get away with it?
hopefully he will be open to conceding that drug use and alcohl use are often hallmarks of mental illness/distress and not exclusively acts of wanton stupidity.