Richard Simmons missing?

[Anonymous]

http://interactive.nydailynews.com/2016/03/richard-simmons-disappeared-twisted-mystery/?utm_content=buffer3d66c&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=NYDNGossip+Twitter

Richard Simmons has vanished from public view, and many who know him best say they haven’t had any contact in more than two years. All repeat the same message, some anonymously and some on the record: Simmons stopped returning calls and emails more than two years ago, behavior that is highly out of character, and his housekeeper is blocking access to him at home. Indeed, for a generous and intensely social public figure, one who taught classes at his Beverly Hills gym until a few years ago; has sold more than 20 million exercise videos, including the mega-popular “Sweatin’ to the Oldies” series; appeared many times on David Letterman’s shows, “General Hospital,” his own talk show and infomercials; and was a seemingly ubiquitous presence for decades, the silence is striking.

“We were very close,” says a friend in Hollywood who spoke on the condition that his name be withheld, and who has not heard back from Simmons since 2013 — one of five people who described to me the same situation. “It’s not something that I want to seek publicity about, but we are very concerned. Teresa did turn me away several times. He has missed funerals of close friends. He was the most reliable and caring person on the planet, and then to suddenly vanish? I have come to believe that something else is happening. I don’t think Richard is in there of his own volition.”

It’s a sentiment that Oliveira takes even further. “I feel that Richard is now being controlled by the very people that he controlled his whole life,” he says. “Controlled in the sense that they are taking advantage of his weak mental state. Controlled in the sense that they are controlling his mail, controlling his everything. His brother, the manager and Teresa. Those three people.”

He also believes that Simmons is deeply depressed, because of a chronic knee injury that has kept him from teaching classes; the death of his beloved 17-year-old dalmatian, Hattie; and exhaustion from a lifetime as one of the highest-octane characters in American pop culture. How does he think Simmons has spent his days since cutting off contact with the world? “Medicated and in bed,” Oliveira says.

[Anonymous]

Wow, that's sad.

[Anonymous]

Oh my goodness. I really hope this is not true, how utterly horrible. He must have an agent or an attorney or someone beyond those three people who can try to verify he is ok.

[Anonymous]

He's been missing for 2 years and his friends are just now getting concerned? I don't understand. If he is literally *missing* - as in no one knows where he is that is really very alarming.

[Anonymous]

Can't the police do a wellness check on him? They should just to make sure he's o.k.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can't the police do a wellness check on him? They should just to make sure he's o.k.

Yeah they should call the police and request a wellness check.

[Anonymous]

They are so concerned they aren't willing to publicly give their name?

[Anonymous]

According to the link one friend who called his brother b/c he was worried got slapped with a restraining order. Apparently, it's the house keeper and agent keeping a tight rein on him. However, he may be ill or depressed and they are not manipulating him.

[Anonymous]

And no one has thought to do a police wellness check? That is the fishy part of this story.

[Anonymous]

This is old news. Reports about him withdrawing from public life and concerning friends made the rounds over a year ago.

It's sad, but I also sort of understand it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He's been missing for 2 years and his friends are just now getting concerned? I don't understand. If he is literally *missing* - as in no one knows where he is that is really very alarming.

Perhaps you might consider actually reading the article before posting a comment.

[Anonymous]

My theory is that he gained weight after his injury prevented him from exercising, and his vanity has exacerbated his mental health issues. He was morbidly obese (his words) and suffered with mental illness (his words) before he took the world by storm with his fitness business. He doesn't want to be tabloid media fodder, so he's staying out of public view and away from people who could leak a story.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He's been missing for 2 years and his friends are just now getting concerned? I don't understand. If he is literally *missing* - as in no one knows where he is that is really very alarming.

Perhaps you might consider actually reading the article before posting a comment.

It sounds as though his brother, housekeeper and manager are preventing people from visiting him - maybe that is at his request, maybe it isn't. Maybe he is o.k., maybe he isn't. There are worse things in life than having a bunch of concerned friends wondering about your well being.

[Anonymous]

Someone is Facebooking and Twittering for him.

I saw him recently on tv. I think he just wants to be left alone.

[Anonymous]

I got curious and did a little search about this story on the internet. It seems that the police did a wellness check on him about a year ago. He's fine.