Why You Rarely Hear About Richard Simmons Nowadays

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 (via Rolling Stone) that it was February 15 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." He 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 spend time with myself."

Was that it, or was there more to it?

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 "complete load of crap," and Simmons himself had confirmed as much in a 2016 phone call with Entertainment Tonight. In the call, he referred to them as "an old married couple," and explained his disappearance like this: "It was time for me to take some time."

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.

Even before Richard Simmons was a major television star, he had his own Los Angeles exercise studio. He opened Slimmons in 1974, says ABC News, and even though he was fond of saying (via Men's Health), "If I have to die, I want to combust in the middle of one of my classes," 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 (in part): "... while 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. ... Please know that I am in good health and I am happy. ... 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. Why? "He just hasn't taught there in over two 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. In 2017, longtime friend Dan Taberski told Vogue, "People like him become punch lines."

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 (via MarketWatch), he found there were many of them who suspected that his struggle continued, and was behind his disappearance. In his memoir (via Today), 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. He 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."

Richard Simmons talked about his family a bit in a 2012 interview with Men's Health, saying that he had always been extremely close to both his parents — who had passed away, both at 87 years of age — and his brother. He said that he considered himself incredibly fortunate to have such a good relationship with his sibling, and in 2017, Lenny Simmons spoke on the "Missing Richard Simmons" podcast (via People).

He confirmed that while he was still in regular contact with his brother, he wasn't entirely sure what was going on otherwise. They spoke on the phone every week and had gotten together for Christmas, but when asked about his public disappearance, Lenny also said, "I'm not too sure why he made that decision ... He hasn't told me. He really has not confided in me."

While he also confirmed that, yes, he simply wanted to live a life out of the public spotlight, he suggested there was more to it. He was healthy, but happy? "Happy is kind of a hard word to describe."

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. Elder abuse is very real and very horrifying, after all — 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 and stalking a man who 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.

After years of speculation, Richard Simmons finally issued a statement on his whereabouts, his health, and his fans — a message that came on the heels of the TMZ documentary that investigated exactly what had happened to the exercise guru.

But strangely, even though Simmons' apparent Facebook post got more than 40,000 reactions and 6,000 comments, things were still pretty vague. The post consisted of a smiling emoji holding a "Thank you!" banner, and the text: "Thank you, everyone, for your kindness and love! (heart). Love, Richard."

That's ... not really shedding too much light on anything, but Simmons' spokesperson, Tom Estey, offered a little bit more to the New York Post. He said, "Richard is eternally grateful for the continuous outpouring of love and gratitude he has received from across the Globe. He is happy, healthy, and living the life he has chosen to live."

Estey went on to confirm that yes, it had been Simmons himself who had posted the short message to Facebook, and while there's no way to know whether or not he read any of the thousands of comments, fans were hopeful that this wasn't going to lead to more years of radio silence.