The most entertaining part of Pauly Shore’s allegedly-upcoming Richard Simmons biopic might just be the social media back-and-forth between Shore and the man he’s so desperate to portray. When the film was first announced in January, Simmons posted a statement to Facebook that read, “You may have heard they may be doing a movie about me with Pauly Shore. I have never given my permission for this movie. So don’t believe everything you read.†In response, Shore defended making the film at the Sundance Film Festival, where he was promoting his short film The Court Jester, in which he also plays Simmons.
Now, Simmons is speaking out yet again. On April 24, the reclusive fitness guru took to Twitter to denounce the film further, tweeting, “I just read that a man that I don’t know is writing my biopic starring Pauly Shore. I do not approve this movie. I am in talks with major studios to create my own biopic with some help. Wait for this movie.â€
In response, Shore posted a lengthy reply on Instagram, writing in part, “I was up all night crying regarding Richard Simmons’ tweet. Richard, how do you not approve of this movie? I mean, really, who’s better to play you in a movie than ME? Leonardo DiCaprio’s not gonna play you. Brad Pitt’s not gonna play you. I’m perfect.†He went on to make the case as to why Simmons should give his blessing, before noting that he doesn’t necessarily need it. “As you know, many biopics are made without the subject agreeing to be part of it: Elvis, Stephen Hawking, Marilyn Monroe, Steve Jobs, and many, many more. Some of them turned out good, some of them turned out bad. Mine is going to turn out amaze-balls.†Do you know what would be even more “amaze-balls� Simmons casting Leonardo DiCaprio as himself in an authorized biopic.