As Richard Simmons’ legal battle against the National Enquirer and Radar Online continues, the source who reportedly said Simmons was transitioning genders is now claiming he never shared this information with the media.
In a signed declaration filed on Thursday, Simmons’ former masseuse Mauro Oliveira — quoted by news outlets as saying that Simmons was undergoing gender reassignment — is shooting down published reports, which were based on his supposed statements. According to Oliveira, he never said that Simmons was transitioning genders.
“I was shocked and disturbed after discovering that the National Enquirer and Radar Online published cover stories claiming that Richard Simmons has transitioned into a woman and included the photos I supplied,” Oliveira stated. “Although I may have said that Richard Simmons’ chest looks like the chest of someone who might be on hormones…I never stated that Richard Simmons is now a woman, had breast implants, or had sex-change surgery.”
Oliveira also sold pictures of Simmons dressed in women’s clothing to newspapers, which were used to accompany the stories in question.
In July, media outlets involved asked for the lawsuit to be thrown out, claiming that their reports are “not defamatory under modern jurisprudence.”
According to Simmons’ attorney, Neville Johnson, the media “has gone out of its way to try and humiliate and embarrass and slander…They have hyped this into a whole other story with all these other details that are simply wrong and false.”
Simmons, meanwhile, is “doing fine,” says Johnson, who associated the fitness guru’s silence with the star being a “private” person. “If he has to come forward and testify and have his body examined, so be it,” Johnson added.
In a statement issued to ABC News, a spokesperson for American Media, Radar Online’s parent company, said it “stands by its reporting.”
“It’s the height of sophistry to claim to be a supporter of LGBTQ rights, yet also claim to be defamed by being identified as transgender. But that shouldn’t surprise anyone who’s noted Mr. Simmons’ refusal to identify with or openly support gay and lesbian rights over the course of his entire career,” the statement read. “AMI stands by its reporting, which was not only supported by a lengthy on-the-record taped interview with Mr. Oliveira, it was also supported by photographs and videotape (which AMI possesses but did not publish), and was consistent with prior reporting about Mr. Simmons’ lifestyle. We look forward to litigating Mr. Simmons’ claims in a public court of law.”
