Pauly Shore Pays Tribute to Fitness Guru Richard Simmons: ‘I Hope You’re at Peace and Twinkling Up in the Heavens’

News of a Richard Simmons biopic starring Shore broke in January of this year; the feature is still in the works from The Wolper Organization, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Casting. Soon after the announcement, Simmons took to Facebook to express his disapproval.

“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.”

Shore also worked on “The Court Jester,” a separate short film about Simmons, which was written and directed by Jordan Allen-Dutton.

At the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, Shore told Variety the short was “all about love,” even if it didn’t have Simmons’ blessing. “My come from has always been love. …It’s never been vindictive. I’m not Borat. I’m not ‘let’s make fun of someone.’ It’s the opposite.”