Aged rocker Gene Simmons is backing off of his recent comments on depression and suicide as quickly as he can.
Simmons–who made his comments in an interview conducted several days before Robin Williams’ suicide–said initially “F*** you, then kill yourself” when speaking generally about those who suffer from suicidal depression.
Since the interview, and especially since Williams’ suicide, outrage has mounted.
Triple M, the owner of five radio stations in Australia’s largest cities, has vowed to keep Kiss songs off of their airwaves.
Said network head Mike Fitzpatrick:
[These] are not topics he should be using to further his notoriety or sell records. His desperation to use mental health issues to find relevancy in a modern age is sickening. I can only put it down to a brain fade on his part.
Similarly, DJ Uncle Vito, of Albany radio station PYX 106, has refused to play any Kiss songs on his show, and went so far as to call Simmons “an arrogant, unfeeling a**hole.”
Radio station Power97 in Winnipeg has likewise banned anything to do with Simmons from its airwaves.
Now, the capitalist and occasional musician has issued an apology, one that simply pretends like what he said in the initial interview never happened.
Here’s Gene Simmons’ official statement on the matter, posted to his official Facebook page on Friday evening:
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.
If he’d stopped after the second paragraph, maybe the statement could function as an apology. But Simmons goes on to imply his greatness for having worked with charities (though it’s not clear whether those charities had anything to do with depression) and to suggest that interviews are tense, emotionally charged situations.
Collapsing depressed people with drug addicts and alcoholics doesn’t demonstrate too much forethought or compassion, either.
What do you think? Do you accept Simmons’ apology? Did he have anything to apologize for in the first place?
