In an interview with SongFacts.com last month, KISS frontman Gene Simmons insensitively implied that people with depression should stop bothering him and just kill themselves. In the wake of Robin Williams’ suicide, his words served as a reminder of the irresponsibility of many pop culture icons, and led to several radio stations proposing a boycott of his music.

“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,” the recent Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee told SongFacts. “For a putz 20-year-old kid to say, ‘I’m depressed, I live in Seattle.’ Fuck you, then kill yourself. 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.”

Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx was one of the first to criticize Simmons for his poor choice of words on his Sirius radio show this week. Several other radio stations soon followed suit and expressed their outrage with Simmons, with Australian radio station Triple M announcing a boycott of all KISS material for the rocker’s “misguided and insensitive” comments.

Simmons finally issued a formal apology for his disparaging comments on Facebook on Friday afternoon.

“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.”