KISS bassist Gene Simmons has apologized for telling depressed people to kill themselves.

The controversial comments were made during an interview with SongFacts.com at the end of July.

“Drug addicts and alcoholics are always, ‘The world is a harsh place,'” Simmons told the website. “I don’t want to hear f*** all about ‘the world as a harsh place’ […] ‘for a putz, 20-year-old kid to say, ‘I’m depressed, I live in Seattle.’ F*** you, then kill yourself.”

Under normal circumstances, Gene’s comments would have undoubtedly been interpreted as insensitive and inappropriate, but actor Robin Williams recently took his own life after battling depression.

Simmons issued an apology on his Facebook page.

“Unkind statements about depression was certainly never my intention,” he wrote. “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.”