Richard Simmons' staff hit back at comedian Pauly Shore's comments about late fitness guru
The family of Richard Simmons is making waves for recent comments about Pauly Shore.
Simmons died at his home in Hollywood on July 13.
Shore, who is set to star and executive produce a biopic about the late fitness legend, told "Entertainment Tonight" that pre-death social media posts from the reclusive TV guru that were critical of Shore taking on the role could have been fake.
"I know he wanted me to do it," he said of the biopic. "I don’t even know if that was him tweeting the whole time. I don’t know who that was," Shore told ET. But Simmons' staff hit back at the comments on social media.
"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," his staff wrote on the late star's official X account.
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His staff continued, writing that Simmons' brother Lenny said "Dicky absolutely wrote his own posts. He worked on them a week in advance, going over and over them to get the right message," while adding that his brother "would often read them to Cathy and I beforehand. 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."
In January, Shore told Entertainment Weekly in an interview that the similarities go further that just fans, who've pointed out physical similarities between the comedian and the fitness coach.
"I am him. I like helping people. I like health. I like putting that energy out there," Shore told EW. "I help comedians and people, and so I really relate to Richard. And I've been going to the gym since I was a kid."
While Shore was set to play Simmons in a film called "The Court Jester," Simmons was critical of the portrayal, writing on Facebook that he did not approve of the film earlier this year.
"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," Simmons wrote. "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."
Contributing: Amanda Lee Myers, Mike Snider, Taijuan Moorman