Richard Simmons is setting the record straight about his reported biopic starring Pauly Shore.
“You may have heard they may be doing a movie about me with Pauly Shore,” Simmons wrote in a Jan. 17 Facebook post. “I have never given my permission for this movie. 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. Thank you for all your love and support.”
Shore teased the feature film in a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, saying he had made it his mission to give 75-year-old Simmons the biopic treatment. The comedian told the outlet that the retired fitness guru would not be involved with the film as he simply wanted “to lay low." Shore, 55, remained confident Simmons would be pleased with the story and eventually hop on board.
“Well, he has written a book and there’s a lot of stuff out there, so if we stay consistent to his story, once we start writing it, I think he’ll be all right,” Shore said. “But my attitude is: If we build it, he’ll come. That’s my hope. My hope is that he sees that it looks good, it feels good, it’s right. And then he might just say 'fuck it' at some point—‘I’m down. I’ll help you guys, I’ll be part of it, and I’ll hold your hand.'”
TMZ caught Shore at the Salt Lake City Airport on Thursday and asked for his thoughts on Simmons' pushback. “Every day’s a different day, you never know what he’s gonna say the next day. … If you know anything about me, I don’t come from a vindictive place,” he said.
The potential biopic is reportedly being developed by the Wolper Organization, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. The studio addressed Simmons' Facebook post in a statement to NBC News on Thursday, saying it "would love to have him involved” but nonetheless “respect his desire to privacy.”
“[We] plan to produce a movie that honors him, celebrates him and tells a dramatic story,” the Wolper Organization wrote. “He is an amazing person, that changed millions of peoples’ lives and the effect he has had on the world needs to be recognized… We know he is deeply private and we would never want to invade that, how ever (sic) he is an amazing person, that changed millions of peoples lives and the effect he has had on the world needs to be recognized.”
Shore is now gearing up for the premier of The Court Jester, a Jake Lewis-directed short film in which he portrays Simmons. The project, which is unrelated to the potential feature-length biopic, will premiere Friday at the Sundance Film Festival.
On Thursday on X, Shore shared his amusement at a fan joking that Simmons "has reportedly agreed to play Pauly Shore" in a biopic, alongside a photoshopped image. He also responded to a user saying "Simmons doesn't have to sign off on it actually," simply writing, "Yup."
