Gene Simmons has apologized after coming under fire for inflammatory comments he made about his late Kiss bandmate Ace Frehley.

“Upon reflection, I was wrong in the words I did. I humbly apologize,” Simmons said in a post shared Wednesday on X.

“My hand to God, I didn’t mean to hurt Ace or his legacy, but as I reread my words, I see how it hurt everyone,” he added. “Again, I apologize. I’ve always loved Ace. Always.”

Frehley, 74, died in October after a fall at his home in New Jersey. A medical report from the Morris County Medical Examiner determined Frehley’s cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head and ruled the rocker’s manner of death an accident.

Gene Simmons cast doubt on whether the cause of bandmate Ace Frehley's death was accidental in comments he made to the New York Post earlier this month.
Gene Simmons cast doubt on whether the cause of bandmate Ace Frehley’s death was accidental in comments he made to the New York Post earlier this month.

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Simmons appeared to deny that the cause of death was accidental in comments he made to the New York Post earlier this month.

“He refused [advice] from people who cared about him, including yours truly, to try to change his lifestyle. In and out of bad decisions,” the entertainer said. “Falling down the stairs (I’m not a doctor) doesn’t kill you. “There may have been other problems and it breaks my heart.”

“The saddest thing is, unfortunately, you reap what you sow,” Simmons added.

Simmons, who has a reputation for being outspoken, previously spoke about his regrets over his relationships with Frehley and his other Kiss bandmate, Peter Criss. Both Frehley and Criss left the band and rejoined several times over the years.

(Clockwise from top center) Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley, Paul Stanley and Peter Criss of Kiss.
(Clockwise from top center) Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley, Paul Stanley and Peter Criss of Kiss.

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“If I regret anything, thank God, it’s that sometimes (and I think we all go through this sometimes) we wish we were smarter and better at trying to help Ace. [Frehley] and peter [Criss] have a better life,” Simmons told People magazine in an interview in November.

He then went on to talk about “bad decisions” and showing people “tough love,” while explaining that he and his bandmates sometimes tried to tour for “selfish reasons.”

“Let’s just keep doing the tour because you want to finish it for selfish reasons because it’s working, and the girls, and the money, and you don’t want to ruin anything,” Simmons explained. “Meanwhile, someone who could be your brother is ruining his life with bad decisions.”