Richard Simmons is making it clear where he stands with the biopic in the works starring Pauly Shore. 'The Pauly Shore biopic does not have my blessing. Some major studios are interested with me being involved in MY story. Who should play me? Tom Cruise lol,' Simmons said in a statement, confirmed by his publicist to Fox News Digital Friday. Simmons' comments come after Deadline reported Jordan Allen-Dutton was slated to write the script for the upcoming biopic.
Simmons also took to Facebook Wednesday, writing, 'I just read that a man that I don’t know is writing my bio pic starring Pauly Shore. I do not approve this movie. I am in talks with major studios to create my own bio pic with some help. Wait for this movie.' Shore shared a lengthy statement with Fox News Digital and explained he was 'up all night crying' after seeing Simmons' social media post.
In January, it was announced Shore would play Simmons in the feature film. In September, viral memes circulated online of Pauly and Richard's similar appearance. Shore took to Facebook to announce that he reached out to Simmons about portraying him in a film. 'I’ve noticed all the reactions to me playing Richard Simmons in a new biopic,' Pauly wrote at the time. 'So I reached out to him. I heard he’s living deep in Big Bear. We’ve been playing phone tag .
Richard shared with his fans that he was 'dying' and detailed the moment he found out about the diagnosis and the procedure he underwent in attempt to remove the cancer cells. 'I didn’t get it all out,' he wrote in his post. 'He burned my face again. This time was worse than before... It was deeper. I did not cry this time but I did grit my teeth. ‘Come back in another hour and a half.’… .