Just weeks after Richard Simmons’ death at 76 years old, his family remains at odds with actor Pauly Shore over his plans to make a biopic about the fitness legend’s life.
Shore revealed this year that he was in talks to play the lead role in a movie about the workout video icon’s life, but Simmons quickly made it clear he wasn’t on board.
“Hi Everybody!” Simmons wrote in January on his social media. “You may have heard they may be doing a movie about me with Pauly Shore. I have never given my permission for this movie. So don’t believe everything you read.”
He added, “I just try to live a quiet life and be peaceful. Thank you for all your love and support.”
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This week, Shore told Entertainment Tonight that he plans to go forward with the film despite Simmons’ objections and his death.
“I know he wanted me to do it,” Shore said in an interview from his car. “I don’t even know if that was him tweeting the whole time. I don’t know who that was.”
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On Wednesday, Simmons’ staff wrote, “Pauly Shore has recently made comments to Entertainment Tonight concerning his attempts to proceed with an unauthorized movie about Richard. You’ve seen here on Richard’s account what he had to say about the biopic.”
The staff added, “We’d also like to share the following statement from Richard’s brother, Lenny. ‘Dicky absolutely wrote his own posts. He worked on them a week in advance, going over and over them to get the right message. He would often read them to Cathy and I beforehand.”
Lenny added, “What he has NOT done was to text, email or call Pauly with anything; not even to wish him ‘Good Luck’ as Pauly has stated many times.”
A rep for Simmons confirmed the authenticity of Lenny’s statement to Fox News Digital.
In January, Shore said on Instagram that if he got the “opportunity to star in a Richard Simmons biopic I will deliver because I take things very seriously. I will immerse myself in the body, soul and spirit of Richard Simmons.”
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He added, “Richard, if you’re watching, nothing but love, brother, nothing but love. And let’s see if we can do this, we can merge our forces and we can bring a beautiful, beautiful piece for the people to see and we can spread your word.”
The movie would come on the heels of a short that Shore filmed about Simmons called “The Court Jester,” which he said he made before Christmas and was screened at the Sundance Film Festival in January.
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In September, Shore said he had reached out to Simmons about the biopic, “and his representatives said that Richard loves me and my mom (he has known us both for decades), but Richard is politely passing. He said Richard, at this time, wants to remain private, which we all need to respect. Richard, we all miss you, love you very much and want nothing but the best for you. You are in all of our hearts. You can always reach out to me if you change your mind.”
Simmons died on July 13 of a likely heart attack just one day after his 76th birthday.
“I don’t want people to be sad about my brother,” Lenny Simmons wrote on his social media one day after his death. “I want them to remember him for the genuine joy and love he brought to people’s lives. He truly cared about people. He called, wrote, and emailed thousands of people throughout his career to offer help.”
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Shore paid tribute to Simmons on his social media on the day he died.
“I just got word like everyone else that the beautiful Richard Simmons has passed,” he wrote alongside a picture of the fitness legend. “I hope you’re at peace and twinkling up in the heavens. Please give my mother Mitzi and my father Sammy a big hug and a kiss for me. You’re one of a kind, Richard. An amazing life. An amazing story. They broke the dolphin shorts when they made you. Rest in peace, my friend. Rest in peace.”
He also shared video of a couple who he met at GalaxyCon in North Carolina who told him they thought “The Court Jester” was “Oscar worthy.”
“We loved it. Please make a full film of that,” the man told Shore at the convention.
Shore added in his caption: “We love you Richard! Such an amazing story.”
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In January, Shore told Variety that his “come from has always been love” regarding telling a story. “It’s never been vindictive. I’m not Borat. I’m not, ‘Let’s make fun of someone.’ It’s the opposite. At this point, it’s an unauthorized biopic and they’re made every day. Yes, I want him to put his pixie dust on this and say, ‘Go for it, Pauly.’ We don’t want to bug him. We want him to be left alone and we don’t want to bug him. We want to pay homage to him and kiss his feet and say he’s done beautiful stuff.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to Shore for comment.
