Byline: Karu F. Daniels, New York Daily News, (TNS)
A war of words is brewing over Pauly Shore’s unauthorized biopic on Richard Simmons, who died July 13 at the age of 76.
The fitness guru’s survivors are throwing cold water on Shore’s claims that he was given the blessing to go ahead with the proposed project, titled The Court Jester.
The 56-year-old actor told ET in late July, “I know he wanted me to do it” — a notion that Simmons’ brother, Lenny, and former staffers took to social media to denounce.
“Pauly Shore has recently made comments to Entertainment Tonight concerning his attempts to proceed with an unauthorized movie about Richard,” the staffers wrote Wednesday on Simmons’ X account. “You’ve seen here on Richard’s account what he had to say about the biopic.”
Shore, known for his roles in “Encino Man” and “Bio-Dome,” announced his plans for the movie ahead of the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, releasing a teaser trailer of him as a dead ringer for the Sweatin’ to the Oldies star.
Simmons, who lived as a recluse for much of the past decade, came out of seclusion to disavow the project a day later in a Facebook post.
“You may have heard they may be doing a movie about me with Pauly Shore,” he wrote in January. “I have never given my permission for this movie. So don’t believe everything you read.”
Shore told ET in late July that he questioned whether it was really Simmons “tweeting the whole time,” implying someone else was behind the disapproving posts.
Simmons’ brother also addressed that claim, saying that he “absolutely wrote his own posts.”
“He worked on them a week in advance, going over and over them to get the right message,” Lenny said in follow-up tweets. “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.”
The Court Jester is currently still in development at The Wolper Organization with writer Jordan Allen-Dutton attached.
The company said in January they would “love to have [Simmons] involved” in the project, but regardless planned to “produce a movie that honors him, celebrates him and tells a dramatic story.”
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