Now Richard Simmons Has Cancer

UPDATE Mar 20, 2024 11:00 AM CDT

Days after Richard Simmons upset fans by announcing he was dying—eventually, like the rest of us—he's at it again by announcing he has cancer. TMZ reports that the 75-year-old fitness star revealed in a lengthy Facebook post on Tuesday that he's been diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma, which is the most common form of skin cancer. The cancer was a spot under his right eye, so his dermatologist referred him to a specialist who burned it off. Cancer hopefully gone, and drama hopefully over.

Mar 19, 2024 1:11 AM CDT

Richard Simmons scared a few people Monday with a thread on X that started out, "I have some news to tell you. Please don't be sad. I am ….dying." The post went on to explain that "we are all dying," in that "every day we live we are getting closer to our death," and the rest of the thread offered advice on how to live life to the fullest, from nutrition and exercise tips to reminders of how important it is to express our love to people. Finally, Simmons gave a song recommendation (Tim McGraw's "Live Like You Were Dying") and reminded everyone to pray. Many were concerned the 75-year-old fitness guru was revealing that he was dying imminently, leading him to quickly issue a clarification, CNN reports.

"Sorry many of you have gotten upset about my message today. Even the press has gotten in touch with me. I am not dying," Simmons explained. "It was a message about saying how we should embrace every day that we have. Sorry for this confusion." Prior to Simmons' clarification, his rep had confirmed in a statement that Simmons is "very healthy and happy. The sole purpose of the post was meant to be inspirational." Simmons has largely stayed out of the public eye since 2014, E! reports, but he has lately been posting regularly on X. Earlier this year, he expressed displeasure with a planned biopic about his life starring Pauly Shore, but Shore claimed days later that Simmons reversed course and wished him good luck with the project, TMZ reported at the time. (More Richard Simmons stories.)