The latest in a string of celebrity deaths that have occurred this week — including Shelley Duvall and Dr. Ruth Westheimer — the sad news of the death of fitness guru Richard Simmons began to circulate on Saturday afternoon.
With very little information available as of now, what has been confirmed is that only one day after celebrating his 76th birthday on Friday, Simmons’ housekeeper made a call to 911 after discovering him unresponsive in his home. According to ABC News, he appears to have died of natural causes, and no foul play is suspected
Seconds after the announcement of his death was made, fans and fellow celebrities began to flood social media with remembrances of the reclusive personality, whose life story was picked up for a biopic by Pauly Shore, albeit against Simmons’ wishes.
“Richard Simmons preached exercise, diet and most of all kindness,” writes journalist Richard Roeper in a post to X. “He positively impacted thousands and thousands of lives. I’m one of the hundreds and hundreds of TV people who basked in his energy and readily accepted those crazy hugs. Rest well.”
“I am completely devastated at the loss of @theweightsaint … we’ve done so many shows together, shared so many laughs & hugs, and I considered him a dear friend who changed so many lives over the years,” writes Sally Jessy Raphael.
“My heart is broken with the loss of this super special human. May he RIP,” writes Ricki Lake.
On Friday, Simmons himself posted a message to his official X account, writing, “Thank you…I never got so many messages about my birthday in my life! I am sitting here writing emails. Have a most beautiful rest of your Friday.
Love, Richard.”