Pauly Shore claims Richard Simmons wanted him to do the biopic, but Simmons’ family hits back

Who would have thought a Richard Simmons biopic would be so rife with controversy? Pauly Shore has been developing an unauthorized biopic of Richard Simmons despite the fitness guru having expressed his displeasure on several occasions. Now, less than a month after Simmons’ death, Shore told Entertainment Tonight that he knows Simmons wanted him to do the movie, which has prompted Simmons’ family to respond.

“I know he wanted me to do it,” Shore told ET. “I don’t even know if that was him tweeting [disapproval] the whole time, to be quite honest. I don’t know who that was.“

In response, Simmons’ staff and brother, Lenny, stated that no such blessing ever took place. “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,” Simmons’ staff wrote on X/Twitter.

Lenny added: “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. 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.“

Shore has already played Simmons in The Court Jester, a short film that quickly gained over one million views on YouTube in just 24 hours. The feature project was announced soon after, and Simmons was quick to shoot it down. “You may have heard they may be doing a movie about me with Pauly Shore,” he wrote on Facebook. “I have never given my permission for this movie. So don’t believe everything you read.”

When it was later announced that Jordan Allen-Dutton (Robot Chicken) would be penning the script, Simmons again expressed his disapproval and added that he was working with studios to develop his own biopic. “I just read that a man that I don’t know is writing my biopic starring Pauly Shore,” he wrote on social media. “I do not approve this movie. I am in talks with major studios to create my own biopic with some help. Wait for this movie.”

Shore, who was still holding out hope that Simmons would embrace the project, confessed that Simmons’ words brought him to tears. “I was up all night crying regarding Richard Simmons’ tweet,” Shore said. “Richard, how do you not approve of this movie? I mean, really, who’s better to play you in a movie than ME? Leonardo DiCaprio’s not gonna play you. Brad Pitt’s not gonna play you. I’m perfect. Everyone already thinks I’m you. We’re the same. Beautiful, inside and out.“

Again, so much more drama than I ever would have expected from a Richard Simmons biopic starring Pauly Shore.