GENE SIMMONS – Deactivates His Twitter Account

Den Headz, the Demon of KISS has apparently deactivated his Twitter account amid a growing fan backlash from negative comments he made recently about people suffering from depression. In an interview that Simmons gave to SongFacts.com late last month, he was asked if he still got along with original KISS members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss. He replied: “I don’t get along with anybody who’s a drug addict and has a dark cloud over their head and sees themselves as a victim.

“Drug addicts and alcoholics are always: ‘The world is a harsh place.’ My mother was in a concentration camp in Nazi Germany. I don’t want to hear fuck-all about ‘the world is a harsh place.’ She gets up every day, smells the roses and loves life. And for a putz, 20-year-old kid to say, ‘I’m depressed, I live in Seattle.’ Fuck you, then kill yourself.”

“I never understand, because I always call them on their bluff. I’m the guy who says ‘Jump!’ when there’s a guy on top of a building who says, ‘That’s it, I can’t take it anymore, I’m going to jump.'”

“Are you kidding? Why are you announcing it? Shut the fuck up, have some dignity and jump! You’ve got the crowd.”

“By the way, you walk up to the same guy on a ledge who threatens to jump and put a gun to his head, ‘I’m going to blow your fuckin’ head off!’ He’ll go, ‘Please don’t!’ It’s true. He’s not that insane.”

Simmons has since been widely criticized for his comments by a number of fans and fellow musicians, including MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx, who said: “Gene is basically saying he has no sympathy for drug addicts or people who are depressed. I’m a recovering drug addict. If I had done what Gene Simmons said and that is to jump, so many wonderful things would have not happened in my life…. I like Gene, but in this situation, I don’t like Gene. I don’t like Gene’s words, because … there is a 20-year-old kid out there who is a KISS fan and reads this and goes, ‘You know what? He’s right. I should just kill myself.'”

Alan Cross ‏@alancross

Gene Simmons banned from Power 97 after suicide comments

Earlier today on Facebook Simmons went into instant damage control:

“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 should hopefully learn from this situation and begin to finally treat original KISS band mates Ace Frehley and Peter Criss with a little more respect, considering both men have fought very difficult battles respectively against alcoholism and breast cancer (Yes, Gene… both diseases!). The horrible treatment they were given by both Simmons and Paul Stanley during this year’s Rock Hall of Fame induction is beyond belief, not to mention the middle finger they gave to fans who simply wanted to see the original band perform a few KISS classics.

https://www.facebook.com/officialgenesimmons