Editorial: Gene Simmons of KISS makes some incredibly stupid comments

Today on 107.5 Dave FM, near the start of the Craig Fee Show, I heard those opening chords to “Detroit Rock City”.  Then, I heard Craig say, “No, no, no.  I will not play this band today.”  He then cut directly into “A Lil’ Ain’t Enough” by David Lee Roth.

There are Kiss boycotts happening right now on radio stations all over the world.

Gene Simmons is not a stupid man.  Nor, do I believe, is he a bad man.  The work he has done for veterans and other causes has been admirable.  He’s also known for opening his big yap and spouting his personal politics to anyone who will listen.  When Gene said this, I simply could not believe it:

“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 f**k all about ‘the world as 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.’ F**k 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 f**k up, have some dignity and jump! You’ve got the crowd.”

Hot on the heels of the suicide of the much-beloved Robin Williams, Simmons’ carelessness was shocking to me. Nikki Sixx called him out on it, and said, “What if somebody heard those words and did kill themselves, Gene?”

Today Gene offered up an apology of sorts.

“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 been a member of the Kiss Army since 1985.  I have always loved their music, and always will.  I realized a long time ago, probably since the mid-90’s, that Gene Simmons is an asshole.  He even named his solo album Asshole.  We all know that Gene spouts crap about anything and everything, as is his right.  Just like it’s my right to call him out on it.

Gene, to this day depression comes with a huge stigma.  Some don’t recognize it as an illness.  Some think “just cheer up,” is the solution.  Sadly, some in the medical field don’t even understand depression, the pain it can cause (both emotional and physical) and how it can devastate a life.   I hope that you learned a valuable lesson from this Gene.  I hope you choose to learn more about depression and mental illness.  After all, next it could be your son Nick, or your daughter Sophie, who fall ill with an awful mental illness that people don’t fully understand.  It can happen to anyone regardless of who they are, or how hard they work, or how much success they have.  I hope, Gene, that you will treat everyone who suffers from these terrible illnesses with the same compassion that I expect you would treat Nick and Sophie with.

I still love Kiss.  But Gene, you named that solo album correctly, because you’ve acted like a total asshole.

42 comments

  2. I couldn’t agree more; and unlike you, I don’t have any real regard for Mr Simmons to start with. Depression is an illness, a condition almost entirely unrelated (apart from tangentially) to anything outside the individual and so his ‘arguments’ just illustrate his raw ignorance. Suicide is something that has touched me far too closely to ever take lightly, or to forgive anyone who makes such ignorant comments so lightly.

    Hastily retracted comments and clarifications, presumably at the behest of a hard-pressed PR person just make it worse somehow.

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  3. You are too kind to give Mr. Simmons the benefit of the doubt-he is not stupid….but he is insensitive and egocentric enough to create a strong sucking black hole of vanity around his head that nothing can escape from.

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  4. Sure, his mom was in a concentration camp, but has he himself ever been touched by depression or suicide or have his loved ones suffered?? Such ignorant and arrogant statements.

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    1. It just proved he has no idea what can cause depression. He thinks everyone is the same and should be measured by the same yardstick, too. Which isn’t true. We’re not all the same. We’ve all have different makeups. We all respond to life according to our strengths and weaknesses and feelings.

      It’s just disgusting, the ignorance of his statement.

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      1. Agreed. I don’t have much use for him personally.
        Such foolish things to say.
        Now, playing devil’s advocate, he is entitled to his opinion on the matter, however strong, however offensive, however ignorant…but we are also entitled to object to it. That just comes with having freedom of speech in the US.

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        1. This is true. And it’s the right of the radio stations to boycott, too. There’s a big discussion right now on Facebook, asking about freedom of speech and why Kiss is being boycotted. Well, Gene exercised his freedom of speech stupidly.

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  6. My lovely wife is a mental heath therapist, and a KISS fan. This ain’t gonna go over well. The lack of respect in what he said is really bad. I think his apology proves him at least chastened. Can I be cynical enough to think he knew what he was saying, and had his apology all timed out and ready to go? Yes, yes I can.

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        2. Yeah that is true. His name is in the news. Kiss are touring. Will this hurt ticket sales? I doubt it. Just as I am here putting my honest heartfelt opinion out there, others are rallying to Simmons’ side as if this is a battle.

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  7. I’m glad for the apology on this. I’ve spent so much of my education involved in depression that I almost forget some people still think of it the old fashioned way. Its good he knows it is a REAL problem and that he was just being mouthy the first time.

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        10. Haha “heid-the-baw.” Sounds like some sort of jig.

          All I could think of when you put that up there were those scenes in So I Married An Axe Murderer, when Myers is playing his Dad and he’s making fun of the younger brother big head, calling him Heid.

          “Heid! Pants! NOW!”

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  10. Gene Simmons’ mouth is bigger than his head, if you can believe that, because his head is pretty big. I’ve never seen such an ego-centric person as him. It’s funny, because I just finished reading Paul Stanley’s book, and it’s an eye-opener. (I read Gene’s book long ago, which did nothing to improve his status in my mind.) Gene only thinks of himself. Everyone else is wrong, and he’s right, although there’s a funny story in Paul’s book about KISS working with Bob Ezrin for the first time, and Bob got right in Gene’s face and put him in his place, for once. You have to find the time to read this book. And I always liked Paul the best, anyway. He had his problems, but I think he had more common sense than the rest of the band put together. Their current lineup is great. Eric Singer is an amazing drummer, and Tommy Thayer a great guitarist. Too bad they weren’t there for the original band…

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