Richard Simmons has been having a rough year, or at least that's what the media has been saying. People first became concerned about the fitness guru after rumors that he was being held hostage started circulating.
There was even a whole podcast based around the topic called Missing Richard Simmons where it tried to find out what Simmons had been up to.
Simmons was quick to speak up, in a phone interview with The Today Show. "No one is holding me in my house as a hostage; I do what I want to do as I've always done," he said. "So people should just believe what I have to say, because, like, I'm Richard Simmons."
His interview was a little concerning though, because he said "you haven't seen the last of me. I'll come back and I'll come back strong," which almost seemed to indicate that he wasn't as strong as usual.
Then in April 2017, Simmons was hospitalized for what they claimed was "severe indigestion." His representative said that he was having some "discomfort while eating" but was expected to make a full recovery.
And as if that wasn't enough, in November 2017, Simmons went through a legal battle that ended up costing him $220,000!
He had been attempting to sue The National Enquirer for defamation for starting rumors that his disappearance from the public eye was due to the fact that he was transitioning into a woman.
Simmons claimed these stories were a "cruel and malicious" attack against him so he sued, but when he arrived in court the judge decided that being called transgender wasn't necessarily an insult.
Judge Gregory Keosian ruled against Simmons stating, "While, as a practical matter, the characteristic may be held in contempt by a portion of the population, the court will not validate those prejudices by legally recognizing them."
The judge's decision resulted in Simmons having to pay for all the court costs for the newspaper which cost over $220,000.
Now, Simmons is back in court, this time after filing a lawsuit with his longtime housekeeper, Teresa Reveles, against a private investigator after they revealed that they discovered a tracking device on her car in December 2017.
They are claiming that private investigator, Scott Brian Matthews, planted the device to "gather evidence about Simmons" over a year ago. The car in question is the only one that Simmons leaves his house in these days, as he still has not been seen in public since 2014.
Matthews allegedly used the tracking information to report to the National Enquirer that Simmons was in the hospital, which was how they found out about the "severe indigestion" incident.
Both Simmons and Reveles are suing for emotion distress. "As a result of discovering that Mr. Mathews was tracking his whereabouts by placing a tracker on Ms. Reveles' vehicle, Mr. Simmons and Ms. Reveles have suffered significant mental anguish, including, without limitation, anxiety, feelings of powerlessness, frustration and humiliation in discovering that they were being tracked, and their privacy invaded," the lawsuit claims.
Hopefully Simmons gets the privacy he deserves after such a long career.
For more details on Richard Simmons' dramatic year, check out these articles:
The initial reports that he was missing caused a lot of controversy.
And now he might decide to appeal the lawsuit against The National Enquirer.
Source - People / Hollywood Reporter
