Beloved fitness guru Richard Simmons, 75, has been out of the public eye since early 2014. He had a knee replacement, stopped making public appearances, closed his fitness studio and cut out many of his oldest and dearest friends. There were rumors that he was being controlled by a staffer and/or that he was being subjected to elder abuse by a family member. Multiple wellness checks showed that he was lucid and that this was his choice. Simmons has issued several written statements that he’s fine.
Pauly Shore is playing Simmons in a short that premieres in Park City today. It’s going to air on YouTube tomorrow on The Lewis Brothers’ YouTube Channel and a teaser is below. Pauly favors Simmons and he apparently sought his approval for a biopic that’s in the works. Pauly said he was “playing phone tag” with Simmons, but it doesn’t sound like he got in touch. The movie, which is separate from the short and is being produced by Warner Brothers, was announced earlier this week. In a statement to Facebook, Simmons said he did not give permission for the biopic about him.
Richard Simmons is taking a break from his “quiet life” to share a rare message on social media.
On Wednesday, the 75-year-old posted a message on Facebook addressing the news that there’s a biopic coming out about his life.
“Hi Everybody! You may have heard they may be doing a movie about me with Pauly Shore. I have never given my permission for this movie,” he wrote. “So don’t believe everything you read.”
“I no longer have a manager, and I no longer have a publicist. I just try to live a quiet life and be peaceful,” he continued. “Thank you for all your love and support.”
Simmons’ message comes as it was announced that Pauly Shore, who in September said he “can definitely morph into” Simmons in response to a viral meme, will play the media icon in a feature-length film from Warner Bros. subsidiary The Wolper Organization, per The Hollywood Reporter and other outlets.
At the time, Shore told PEOPLE that he thinks so many people are responding to the idea of a Simmons biopic because of how he touched their lives.
“He helped so many people,” Shore said. “If you read people talking about him, they’d always be like, ‘I was 400 pounds and Richard Simmons saved my life!’ He was all about positivity and helping people. And there’s so much angst and divisiveness in the world, so I think a dose of that positivity is what people need. A Richard Simmons movie could unite America!”
The film’s producer, Mark Wolper, has made it clear that they will move forward with the full length film despite Simmons saying he did not approve. Their statement reads “While we would love to have [Simmons] involved, we respect his desire to privacy and plan to produce a movie that honors him, celebrates him and tells a dramatic story.”
I really feel for Richard Simmons here. The producers don’t care about his feelings or his desire for privacy and are essentially daring him to come out of retirement to take legal action. I listened to the podcast Missing Richard Simmons and came away with a lot of respect for him. He made a choice to retire at 65 and to stop being a public person. He took extreme measures to do that and made it clear that he was setting a boundary. As much as Pauly Shore and the producers say they’re going to honor Simmons’ legacy, they’re definitely bringing him back into the spotlight when he doesn’t want that. Simmons has indicated over and over again that he’s done.
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On the one hand – I do sympathize. On the other hand, once you’re a public figure you don’t get to really have control over the conversation about you. I am of two minds about it but at the end of the day unauthorized biographies are a thing in print and on film. He inspired many people and continues to inspire, people are curious about him. At this point a lot is out of his hands
in the early 90s my friend’s dad worked on one of his informercials and then Richard started showing up to their house in pennsylvania unannounced and uninvited to go on like play dates just the two of them. the dad would say no I have small children I cant go to the movies and dinner with you and he didnt seem to understand why. he flew out to pa like this maybe 4 times before he stopped.
It is terrible to do this to people.
I think it was Pamala Anderson who was retraumatized when they made a horrible movie about her & Tommy?
Look what they did to Marilyn, they just plain made things up about her.
Making fictional movies about real people is never going to be ok, but especially when those are so vocal about not wanting it.
Shameful.
Or fiction like the novel about driving Einstein’s brain in a jar cross-country. The Einstein family had to be affected by that and received no compensation.
I’ve always liked Richard.
If he does not want to be in the public eye anymore, he should be left in peace.
He should have a legal right to stop any production about his life.
kokiri is correct, some celebs are just never left in peace. Marilyn has been gone for decades, Elvis too. But someone is always ready to try for a cash grab.
Well, I am definitely not watching this short on YT or the movie. Shame on the people doing this.
This makes me think of Johnny Carson.
Carson retired, kept to himself, traveled to the UK to watch Wimbeldon, was spotted and tagged in tabs every time he went anywhere. He basically lived as a hermit to get some peace.
Then his own lawyer, Bushkin who made tens of $Millions off of Johnny when he was alive, within a short period of Carsons’ death a vile book just tearing Johnny to bits.
Pauly Shore should be ashamed to treat RS this way.
When you’re a public figure – especially one as iconic as RS is you don’t get a lot of say about things like this. The major issue I have is Pauly acting like he’s doing some kind of service to America in flagrantly disregarding Richard’s wishes. Like just be honest and say you want to make the movie because you have nothing else going on and you think it would be good for your career. At least then you would be being honest.
This man clearly wants to be left alone. He’s been out of Hollywood for quite some time now. Let him be.
Everything Warners is cancelling and it releasing even though it’s finished — this is what they are holding firm on?
Give it a minute.
Shore wants his shot at a comeback and is trying to seize a viral moment to make it happen. I get it. I have sympathy for Simmons, but he doesn’t have to sign on for it if he doesn’t want to be involved. That also means he also doesn’t have any control over what they make. It’s all very tacky, but I can understand why Shore thinks this might be his only chance to take a crack at this (it probably is). It won’t be the feel-good moment he’s hoping for, though, without Simmons’s involvement.