EXCLUSIVE: Richard Simmons – National Enquirer Blasts Lawsuit over “Sex-Change” Story Alleging Fitness Guru Is Transitioning Into Woman

Richard Simmons

theJasmineBRAND.com exclusively reports, Richard Simmons is being blasted by the National Enquirer in his lawsuit over the article claiming he was transitioning to a woman & considering medical castration. They are demanding his suit be thrown out of court, arguing normal people would not find allegations offensive.

Here’s the latest: On June 12th, American Media & the National Enquirer responded to Simmons lawsuit demanding it be thrown out of court. The media companies deny each and every allegation of wrongdoing by the fitness guru. They argue the ‘sex-change’ article is an example of their right to exercise free speech. American Media claims Simmons is a public figure and none of the statements in their story were posted with malice, saying they did not print lies knowingly and the story was not defamatory.

They argue the “newsworthy” article is a matter of public interest and blasted the fitness mogul for accusing them of causing damage to his reputation & life, saying Simmons has not been damaged and cannot prove injury due to their actions.

The media companies then claim the statements regarding Simmons transitioning into a woman and considering medical castration are not highly offensive to a reasonable person and thus claim he cannot sue over the article. They then argue Simmons is libel-proof, meaning his reputation was so tarnished prior to their story being printed, that there is no way he could prove he was damaged by the article.
They are demanding Simmons’ lawsuit be thrown out and he be ordered to pay their legal fees.

Here’s the backstory:  Back in May, Richard Simmons sued American Media over an article published in The National Enquirer which claimed he was transitioning to become a woman. Simmons sued for defamation and invasion of privacy for publishing “cruel and malicious” stories about his alleged “sex-change” recently.

The suit describes articles between June 2016 and March 2017 which suggested that he was transitioning from a male to female, including articles on his “shocking sex surgery”, hormone treatments, breast implants and even had consultations on medical castration.

The suit states “The cover of the article, 100% entirely dedicated to the false story about Mr. Simmons’ transition, included an old image of Mr. Simmons from 2013 (before his disappearance), dressed in costume as a female, which he has done openly over the years consistent with his well-known and longstanding burlesque-style entertainment persona,” with the headline, ‘Richard Simmons: He’s Now a Woman!'”

Simmons sued the publisher demanding unspecified general damages + punitive damages along with an apology and retraction.

Follow us: @theJasmineBRAND on Twitter | theJasmineBRAND on Facebook| theJasmineBRAND_ on Instagram