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In a libel complaint, the fitness star says the publication knew
its source wasn't credible and that he has "a legal right to
insist that he not be portrayed as someone he is not."
Richard Simmons isn't missing. For those looking for the fitness
guru, try Los Angeles Superior Court, where Simmons is now
standing up for truth and privacy in a huge libel lawsuit
against the National Enquirer, Radar Online and American Media,
Inc. Simmons is targeting a series of "cruel and malicious"
articles published between June 2016 and March of this year that
suggested he was transitioning from a male to a female,
including reports of "shocking sex surgery," breast implants,
hormone treatments and consultations on medical castration.

The complaint filed on Monday paints the tabloids' conduct as
"particularly egregious," a cynical calculation that Simmons
wouldn't sue because he wouldn't want to appear as frowning upon
the act of transitioning from one gender to another.

"National Enquirer and Radar Online have miscalculated," reads
the complaint, a copy of which was obtained by The Hollywood
Reporter. "The National Enquirer and Radar Online have cheaply
and crassly commercialized and sensationalized an issue that
ought to be treated with respect and sensitivity. Principles of
freedom of speech and press may protect their prerogative to
mock and degrade the LGBTQ community. But freedom to speak is
not freedom to defame. Mr. Simmons, like every person in this
nation, has a legal right to insist that he not be portrayed as
someone he is not. Even the most ardent supporter of sexual
autonomy and LGBTQ rights is entitled to be portrayed in a
manner that is truthful."

Neville Johnson, the attorney for Simmons, continues, "The law
of defamation and false light invasion of privacy exist to
vindicate this elemental right. The law protects the right of
every person to be treated with decency and dignity, free from
the deliberate propagation of falsehoods that have no motivation
other than exploitation. It is to vindicate that right, and the
rights of all persons to be portrayed with dignity and honesty
with regard to their sexual identity, that Mr. Simmons files
this lawsuit."

The lawsuit raises provocative issues. Past courts have grappled
with the question of whether being called gay is actually a
stain on one's reputation. Other courts have dealt with public
accusations of cosmetic surgery in the reputational context.
Results have been mixed. For instance, Tom Cruise once won a
default judgment against a porn actor who claimed an affair,
while a New York appeals court in 2012 ruled that defamation
suits premised on one's sexuality are "based on the flawed
premise that it is shameful and disgraceful to be described as
lesbian, gay or bisexual."

Here, Simmons is bringing the first-ever defamation lawsuit over
published reports of a sex change and framing it as a stand for
dignity and the right to have a gender identity.

France told the make believe wonderland faggots to get fucked.
That shit wasn't happening there.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/richard-simmons-sues- national-enquirer-cruel-sex-change-story-999863
 

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