Allegations On 'Missing Richard Simmons' Podcast Draws Denial From Simmons Rep

Controversy

FIRST LOOK MEDIA's hit podcast "MISSING RICHARD SIMMONS" has drawn a sharply negative response from a representative of the fitness guru and celebrity who has disappeared from public life.  SIMMONS' representative TOM ESTEY responded to Episode three of the podcast, in which SIMMONS friend and former masseuse MAURO OLIVEIRA repeated his allegation that SIMMONS is being held captive by his housekeeper TERESA REVELES with a strong denial issued to PEOPLE magazine.

ESTEY told PEOPLE that "THERESA is the housekeeper, she’s the caretaker, she is extraordinary, she is amazing, she takes impeccable care of RICHARD and she has for as long as I have been working with RICHARD, so that is a complete load of crap ... RICHARD made a choice. To live a more private life. If he decides to come back, he’ll come back … People claim that it happened overnight. It really didn’t. We were turning down stuff for years and just kind of quieting down, and when he decides that he wants to come back, that’s when he’ll come back, and when that will be, I have no idea or if he will at all. There really isn’t anything to report.” 

He also said that he, SIMMONS and REVELES did not participate in, or cooperate with, the podcast "because we didn’t feel the need to nor did we want to. All these things distract from his legacy and I will not allow that to happen because this man is a world treasure. He has helped millions of people lose millions of pounds. He has saved millions of lives, spent millions and millions of his own money helping and saving people’s lives. This man is a saint, so treat him like a saint and leave him alone.”

The podcast, hosted by SIMMONS' former friend DAN TABERSKI, explores SIMMONS' friends' concerns about what led to his disappearance from public view.

« see more Net News