What happened to Richard Simmons? The high-energy fitness personality dropped out of the public
eye in 2014 and has rarely been heard from since. So where exactly did the Sweatin to
the Oldies guy go?
It's unclear just when Richard Simmons dropped out of the public eye, but sources do agree
that it happened sometime in early 2014. According to Entertainment Tonight, his last public
appearance was at a California fundraiser that took place in January, while longtime
friend and filmmaker Dan Taberski says that it was February 15th when he didn't show up
to teach a class at his gym, Slimmons. That, Taberski says, was the first of a long series
of no-shows that fans and friends found incredibly weird. He no longer visited the gym he'd spent
so much time at, he cut off contact with everyone, and was even conspicuously absent at the funerals
of friends.
It had people incredibly worried, and in 2015, TMZ reported that the Los Angeles Police Department
had visited Simmons to do a welfare check. He was described as not just perfectly fine,
but they said he couldn't have been nicer and more gracious. Simmons told them he hadn't
been at the gym because he had people looking after it and wasn't needed there, and that
he just needed to, quote, "spend time with myself." But was that really it, or was there
more to it?
In order to talk about Richard Simmons' retreat from the world, it's important to talk about
why it's such a weird thing. For decades, Simmons made reaching out to people — especially
people who had no one else — his life. Simmons took a very personal interest in people in
a way that went way beyond getting them to exercise.
"More than anything is make somebody say, 'Hey, I may never be a size 5. But I'm a terrific
person.'"
Dan Taberski told Vogue that, for years, he would wake up at 4 a.m. and start making phone
calls. He'd make as many as 50 a day, to check in on people he knew needed a friendly ear
and help get to the root of their problems behind their struggles with weight. Richard
Simmons cared — a lot. When tour buses drove by his LA home, he told Men's Health that
he loved going out and talking with people:
"I live for those things. Those things make me feel good."
He also spent countless hours responding to fan mail and emails, telling Men's Health:
"Every time I meet somebody, I ask myself, 'How can I help this person? What more can
I say? What song can I sing them? What blessing can they tell me about that can keep them
on the right place in their mind?'"
Many of them he met at his gym in Beverly Hills. Up until the day he disappeared, he
was still teaching regular classes there on every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. He
went from being America's friendliest social butterfly to simply vanishing overnight.
In talking about why Richard Simmons retreated from the outside world he'd been so involved
with for decades, it's important to acknowledge some rumors — and debunk them. There are
two massive ones that started circulating in 2017, and the first was a claim that he
was transitioning into a woman. According to his representative Michael Catalano, that
was 100% not true. At the time, he told People that he had just seen Simmons at his home,
and he was still healthy, trim, sporting a salt-and-pepper beard, and definitely not
transitioning.
The other rumor is one that People says first went public on Dan Taberski's podcast, "Missing
Richard Simmons." In the third part of the six-part series, Simmons' friend and one-time
masseuse claimed that he was being held prisoner in his own home. Reports from the New York
Daily News went as far as to suggest witchcraft was somehow involved, and he was being held
there by his longtime housekeeper, Teresa Reveles.
It was an accusation that Simmons' rep Tom Estey debunked as a, quote, "complete load
of crap," and Simmons himself had confirmed as much in a 2016 phone call with Entertainment
Tonight. In the call, Simmons referred to them as, quote, "an old married couple."
"No one should feel sorry for Richard Simmons."
Richard Simmons may have started avoiding public appearances in 2014, but he did become
mired in a legal battle in 2017. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Simmons sued the
National Enquirer and a series of other media outlets for running stories saying that he'd
had a series of procedures done, and that he was transitioning to female. The suit condemned
the publications for cashing in on a sensationalized story, saying in part:
"Principles of freedom of speech and press may protect their prerogative to mock and
degrade the LGBTQ community. But freedom to speak is not freedom to defame."
It seems like it might have been an open-and-shut case. Clearly, they had published stories
that just weren't true. But shockingly, Simmons lost the case when the judge ruled that being
misidentified as transgender wasn't harmful enough to his reputation to warrant a win.
The case was dismissed, and NBC News later reported that Simmons was ordered to pay $130,000
to the publications that he had sued, in order to cover part of their legal fees.
While Richard Simmons has been largely silent, he has reached out a few times to explain
where he's been, and why everyone's favorite exercise guru has been so quiet. He also wanted
to reassure everyone that there's nothing to worry about.
In 2016, he called Today to say that he was perfectly fine, that he definitely wasn't
being held hostage, and explained that he had voluntarily stepped out of the spotlight
he'd been in for so long. He wanted some time to himself, he said, to be a private citizen,
to rest, and take care of himself after a lifetime of trying to help others. Simmons
told the Today show:
"It certainly has taken its toll on me, so it was not like over a day, it was just over
some time."
It seemed as though he just needed a little time to live a more private life, and he echoed
that idea the following year. In 2017, his Facebook page was updated with a photo and
a message that read:
"Well, by now you know that I'm not 'missing,' just a little under the weather. I'm sure
I will be feeling good and back home in a couple of days. This has reminded me that
when you need help you can't be afraid to reach out and ask for it. […] Hope to see
you again soon!"
Even before Richard Simmons was a major television star, he had his own Los Angeles exercise
studio. He opened Slimmons in 1974, and once told Men's Health:
"If I have to die, I want to combust in the middle of one of my classes."
"Because I believe if you're happy when you exercise, I think you'll stick to it."
However, the studio officially closed in 2016. There was no celebration and no fanfare, and
ET confirms that Simmons himself wasn't there to teach the final class. Around 60 people
were there for the closing, hour-long workout session, and Simmons reached out only through
Facebook with a message that was read by his representative, Michael Catalano, who was
there in person. It read:
"[W]hile others may not always be kind to you, you must be kind to yourself. [...] I
am finally taking my own advice. [...] I will not see you today because I am not very good
at endings. [...] I cannot bear to be sad today. And you shouldn't be sad, either."
Catalano also confirmed that yes, it had been Simmons' decision — and his alone — to
close the studio that had been such an important part of his life for more than 40 years.
Richard Simmons may be a national treasure that needs to be protected at all costs, but
the world hasn't always been as kind to him as he's been to the world. Simmons has made
mention of struggles with depression before he vanished, and when Taberski interviewed
his friends and family for his "Missing Richard Simmons" podcast, he found there were many
of them who suspected that his struggle continued, and was behind his disappearance. In his memoir,
Simmons wrote about the scars left by bullying:
"When you're an overweight kid and you're made fun of and you're put down, some of that
stuff never leaves you. It always sort of is like a shadow, like Peter Pan."
When Simmons spoke with Men's Health in 2012, he talked a bit about how invested in people
he got. He took their unhappiness and their failures on himself, and just as he celebrated
victories with them, he mourned losses, too. That's a heavy burden to bear. Simmons said:
"When the king gets depressed, he doesn't call for his wife. He doesn't call for the
cook. He calls for the court jester. [...] I'm the clown you take out of the box and wind
up when you need a good laugh. And then, when you're done with me, I go back in my box."
"I've been to a lot of places, met so many wonderful people, and I’ve come away with
great memories that I'll keep for a lifetime."
In April of 2017, ABC News reported that Richard Simmons was in the hospital. According to
what his representative, Michael Catalano, had to say, he had been suffering from severe
indigestion and stomach issues for a few days, and had been convinced to go to a carefully
undisclosed hospital for treatment. Catalano stressed that he was on the mend and expected
to be back on his feet in no time. Catalano also said, however, that a licensing deal
he'd signed a couple weeks prior was definitely going ahead.
Vanity Fair reported that Simmons had signed a deal with Prominent Brand + Talent that
would allow his image and name to be used "on motivational and inspirational products,"
but details were scarce. Catalano confirmed that, yes, Simmons has been personally involved
in the negotiation of the deal, but when asked if it meant he was going to be ending his
three-year-long retreat, he wasn't sure. Simmons ultimately didn't make his return to the public
stage.
When COVID ruined pretty much everything starting in 2020, something weird happened: Richard
Simmons kind of came back ​​— but not really. Starting near the beginning of the
outbreak, content started to be posted regularly to Simmons' YouTube channel. There was a big
"but," though — it was all old content. Simmons didn't comment directly to Fox News,
but a rep did have this to say:
"We have had an overwhelming request for Richard to return in some way as a comfort to all
dealing with the pandemic."
So, they decided to give the public what they wanted … again, sort of. Simmons himself
was still conspicuously not present, although People says they were given an exclusive statement
that read:
"I am very excited that my groundbreaking fitness series of 'Sweatin' to the Oldies'
still is so relevant and popular and I hope many new fans will discover these timeless
classics."
It was also reported that they were working on a new line of merchandise, but by that
point, Simmons hadn't been seen at all for three years. PopCulture says that the only
in-person sighting of him in recent memory was a brief glimpse as he returned home from
his stay in the hospital in April of 2017, but no one had seen him since.
Ultimately, the mystery of just what is going on with Richard Simmons leaves more questions
than answers, with E! suggesting that it's entirely possible the messages that have been
released aren't even coming from him. After Simmons' short 2017 hospital stay, his Facebook
page was updated with a photo and a message thanking everyone for their concern, but the
photo was actually more than three years old at the time it was posted. That led to questions
of whether or not he was actually updating his social media at all.
It's put everyone who cares for him in something of an odd position. On one hand, it's admirable
to make sure he's not being held against his will, or being taken advantage of. But if
the statements are true and he just sort of wants to be left alone to live a private life
for the first time in decades, should things like the "Missing Richard Simmons" podcast
even exist?
Vox describes Dan Taberski's podcast — in which he interviews Simmons' friends, family,
and even manager — as having the potential to be seen as nothing more than badgering
a man who, quote, "clearly wanted to be left alone." According to the LAPD, his disappearance
really is as simple as wanting to lead a quieter life, but still, not everyone is convinced.
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