# Richard Simmons 'missing'. Who knew? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 12, 2016, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-simmons-missing-who-knew/748790 "2016-03-12T21:28:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2016, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-simmons-missing-who-knew/748790/1 "2016-03-12T21:28:23Z")
[Richard Simmons Has Been Missing for Two Years, Friends Concerned He’s Being Held Hostage](https://www.yahoo.com/celebrity/richard-simmons-missing-two-years-191101708.html) > [@](#): > > Where in the world is Richard Simmons? The enthusiastic workout guru has been actively out of the public eye for nearly two years now, and his close friends are concerned that he’s being held hostage at his Hollywood Hills home, according to the _Daily News_. > > \ > > The final straw for Oliveira, he told the Daily News, was when he visited Simmons at his mansion in March 2014, and saw the public figure sleeping at 2 p.m. on a Sunday. > > “I said, ‘Richard, you need to get up. You need to do something,’” Oliveira recalled. “He said, ‘No, I’m tired. let me sleep.’ And nobody cares. I walked downstairs and said, ‘Teresa, Richard needs treatment.’ She said, ‘I don’t care.’” > > In January 2015, TMZ reported that the LAPD paid a visit to Simmons after they were tipped off that things might be awry at the Hollywood Hills mansion, but found Simmons alert and responsive. According to his Wikipedia page, ‘Simmons claims to have few friends, saying, “I don’t have a lot to offer to one person. I have a lot to offer to a lot of people.” Aside from his three Dalmatians and two maids, Simmons lives alone in the Hollywood Hills.’ Sounds like he’s just a recluse. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2016, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-simmons-missing-who-knew/748790/2 "2016-03-12T21:35:37Z")
Maybe he finally ran out of pep. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2016, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-simmons-missing-who-knew/748790/3 "2016-03-12T21:39:59Z")
Huh. Yeah, sounds like he just decided to retire and not make appearances. Or…not. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2016, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-simmons-missing-who-knew/748790/4 "2016-03-12T21:47:44Z")
Really not joking: is it possible for a bipolar person to have been in a manic episode for years, and then crashed, and now is in a two years and counting depression? I mean, peppy Simmons was a little disturbing to me. Maybe it was pathological all along. Of maybe he was taking some kind of medication for depression that induced mania (happens, because a lot of psychiatrists see bipolar patients only when they’re depressed, and diagnose them as depressed, not bipolar), and he’s stopped taking it, for whatever reason ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2016, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-simmons-missing-who-knew/748790/5 "2016-03-13T03:44:26Z")
Who knew? Who cares? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2016, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-simmons-missing-who-knew/748790/6 "2016-03-13T04:09:32Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Who knew? Who cares? Took the words right out of my mouth! ---
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2016, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-simmons-missing-who-knew/748790/7 "2016-03-13T04:30:41Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Who knew? Who cares? > [@terentii](#): > > Took the words right out of my mouth! Looks like the people close to him in real life do. If you don’t, then fine, but a missing person is cause for concern to _somebody_. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2016, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-simmons-missing-who-knew/748790/8 "2016-03-13T04:52:22Z")
The cops did a welfare check on him last year. January 2015 > **[Richard Simmons -- Cops Visit Home After Elder Abuse Claim ... And He's Fine](https://www.tmz.com/2015/01/24/richard-simmons-abuse-missing-investigation-depressed-home/)** > > Richard Simmons had visitors Friday night ... cops who were doing a welfare check because he's been MIA for more than year ... and guess what? He's fine. He was fine then. I suspect he’s just decided to retire from public life. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2016, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-simmons-missing-who-knew/748790/9 "2016-03-13T05:30:32Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Really not joking: is it possible for a bipolar person to have been in a manic episode for years, and then crashed, and now is in a two years and counting depression? I mean, peppy Simmons was a little disturbing to me. Maybe it was pathological all along. Of maybe he was taking some kind of medication for depression that induced mania (happens, because a lot of psychiatrists see bipolar patients only when they’re depressed, and diagnose them as depressed, not bipolar), and he’s stopped taking it, for whatever reason Yes. This is pretty much how it went with the older bipolar people in my family. Super high achievers, then crash, which lasted until death. I’ve wondered: did they just suddenly develop it in their 40s, 50s, 60s? Because it hit the next generation a whole lot earlier, and in those people there were observable cycles. Or were the people in my parents’ generation just legitimate high-energy extremely competent folks who suddenly got tired and depressed and pretty much stayed that way until they died? Some of these people were diagnosed manic-depressive (back when) or bipolar, others just diagnosed as depressed. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2016, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-simmons-missing-who-knew/748790/10 "2016-03-13T05:32:22Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Really not joking: is it possible for a bipolar person to have been in a manic episode for years, and then crashed, and now is in a two years and counting depression? I mean, peppy Simmons was a little disturbing to me. Maybe it was pathological all along. Of maybe he was taking some kind of medication for depression that induced mania (happens, because a lot of psychiatrists see bipolar patients only when they’re depressed, and diagnose them as depressed, not bipolar), and he’s stopped taking it, for whatever reason It’s possible. My now ex-wife was severely bipolar. She went through phases like that when she wasn’t taking her meds. And she hadn’t taken them for years when we first got together. She crashed for a period of about 14 months straight at one time. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2016, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-simmons-missing-who-knew/748790/11 "2016-03-13T05:54:38Z")
I knew, it pops up on TMZ once in a while and I have a few FB friends that like him so I see it there as well. IIRC he broke/injured his knee a while back and couldn’t exercise after that and this, I think, is sort of fall out from that. It seems without his livelihood he kind of fell apart. At least that was the story last year. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2016, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-simmons-missing-who-knew/748790/12 "2016-03-13T08:38:01Z")
Who knew? Well, I’ve read some version of the claim several times over the past couple years so I guess I did, sorta. I don’t seek out Richard Simmons information, it’s just out there, like this board. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2016, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-simmons-missing-who-knew/748790/13 "2016-03-13T13:10:13Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Maybe he finally ran out of pep. I’m thankful I wasn’t drinking something when I read this. mmm ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2016, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-simmons-missing-who-knew/748790/14 "2016-03-13T13:44:07Z")
Creating the Richard Simmons persona must have been exhausting. He had to always be full of energy, animated, and positive. Not to mention having to wear those short shorts day after day. That had to get harder as he aged. He must have known he was the butt of a lot of jokes. Didn’t SNL have a funny character based on him? I think Will Ferrell played it, but I’m not sure. Maybe the guy was telling the cops the truth last year. Any way, he hasn’t been missing two years. He was seen by the police a year ago. > [@](#): > > But we’ve learned the 2 cops who spent an hour with Richard say he seemed genuinely happy. Simmons, who now has a beard, told them he was “exhausted” after spending 30 years in the public eye. He said, “I just want to spend time with myself,” although he says he’s in regular touch with the people in his life who matter to him. He was alone in the house Friday when cops were there. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2016, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-simmons-missing-who-knew/748790/15 "2016-03-13T13:47:13Z")
I knew. The story has been bouncing around since pretty much after he cut everybody off. I have an acquaintance who used to regularly attend classes taught by him at his gym and it was a very sudden departure from his routine. He may very well have decided to retire from public life. Or be in a years log depression but I do hope that welfare check by the police was competently done. Elder abuse (and I know he’s only 66) is a real thing, especially where there is lots of money involved. And often the person appears to be a completely willing participant but is still getting scammed and manipulated. I hope somebody with sufficient independence has visibility into his finances to be able to tell if anything suspicious is going on. On the other hand, with the primary whistleblower is invoking Black Magic as an explanation that doesn’t build up credibility either. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2016, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-simmons-missing-who-knew/748790/16 "2016-03-13T15:29:37Z")
When I asked, ‘Who knew?’ I wasn’t asking literally. It was more along the lines of **Gatopescado** ’s post (#5). 😉 Richard Simmons was ‘big’ back in the '80s and '90s, but my impression is that he’s been out of the public eye for a very long time; so when an article pops up as if it’s ‘news’, it sounds to me as if they’re telling us Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead. ---
**Author:** ![Periwinkle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Periwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Periwinkle)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2016, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-simmons-missing-who-knew/748790/17 "2016-03-13T20:24:34Z")
I remember reading years ago that he spent a lot of time keeping in touch with a lot of people who had contacted him for help, and it sounded like he was very kind and supportive. I can imagine that years of that could be emotionally exhausting. Maybe he just burnt out. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2016, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-simmons-missing-who-knew/748790/18 "2016-03-13T22:19:04Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > When I asked, ‘Who knew?’ I wasn’t asking literally. It was more along the lines of **Gatopescado** ’s post (#5). 😉 > > Richard Simmons was ‘big’ back in the '80s and '90s, but my impression is that he’s been out of the public eye for a very long time; so when an article pops up as if it’s ‘news’, it sounds to me as if they’re telling us Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead. I know you meant it rhetorically. But gathering around to jointly express disinterest in a perceived has been seemed boring. So I answered anyway. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2016, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-simmons-missing-who-knew/748790/19 "2016-03-13T23:00:20Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > it sounds to me as if they’re telling us Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead. Wait, what?:eek:😛 I agree, I think he just got tired of needing to be _on_ all the time. That has got to be mentally exhausting! [URL=“[http://boards.straightdope.com//www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/](http://boards.straightdope.com//www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/)”] ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2016, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-simmons-missing-who-knew/748790/20 "2016-03-13T23:14:38Z")
If I had three dogs and two (aherm) “maids” to live with, I’d never go out either. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/richard-simmons-missing-who-knew/748790.md?page=2)