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The same day that it was announced that a biopic about his life was in development, Richard Simmons surfaced to disavow it, saying in a rare public statement that he had not granted the project his blessing and that he is just trying “to live a quiet life” out of the limelight.
But having Simmons wash his hands of them won’t stop the movie’s producers, who told The Daily Beast on Wednesday night that the film will continue pre-production apace. “While we would love to have him involved, we respect his desire [for] privacy and plan to produce a movie that honors him, celebrates him and tells a dramatic story,” the Wolper Organization, a subsidiary of Warner Bros., said in a statement.
“We know he is deeply private and we would never want to invade that, [however] he is an amazing person, that changed millions of [people’s] lives and the effect he has had on the world needs to be recognized.”