The fitness guru Richard Simmons scared fans Monday morning when he cryptically posted “I am ....dying,” but his manager cleared up the confusion a few hours later, saying his client is still “very healthy and very happy.”
“Happy to report Mr. Simmons is very healthy and very happy,” said his manager, Michael Catalano, in a statement to The Daily Beast. “I would continue to watch his posts for updates.”
That’s welcome news to many after Simmons, 75, posted a confusing thread to X that suggested he might be ill. Turns out, it was just a motivational message.
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“I have some news to tell you. Please don’t be sad. I am ….dying,” he wrote. “Oh I can see your faces now. The truth is we all are dying. Every day we live we are getting closer to our death. Why am I telling you this?
“Because I want you to enjoy your life to the fullest every single day. Get up in the morning and look at the sky… count your blessings and enjoy.”
Simmons continued his thread by sharing wellness tips with his followers, encouraging them to eat healthy and to make sure they exercise daily. He capped the string of posts by encouraging readers to listen to the Tim McGraw hit Live Like You Were Dying.
“A big hug really goes a long way,” his closing post read. “If you have time I want you to listen to a terrific song. It is by Tim McGraw it is called Live Like You Were Dying. Live today and don’t forget to pray. Love, Richard.”
In a follow-up post on Monday, Simmons clarified to fans that he “is not dying” and explained that it was meant to be a motivational message.
“Sorry many of you have gotten upset about my message today,” he said. “Even the press has gotten in touch with me. I am not dying. It was a message about saying how we should embrace every day that we have. Sorry for this confusion.”
Simmons has largely been a recluse since 2014, making the string of messages all the more concerning at first glance. Prior to removing himself from the public eye, he’d been a frequent face on TV, both as a fitness instructor and as an actor.
He ran a gym for more than four decades in Beverly Hills, but closed the establishment, named Slimmons, in 2016. He did not make an appearance at it in its final days.
All the while, Simmons has remained a regular poster to social media, mostly sharing motivational messages and health tips with his fans. He’s the subject of an upcoming biopic about his life starring actor and comedian Pauly Shore—a film Simmons spoke out against in January.
“I have never given my permission for his movie,” he wrote in a Facebook post. “So don’t believe everything you read.”
