Richard Simmons Ordered To Pay The National Enquirer’s Legal Fees After Losing Defamation Lawsuit

Poor Richard Simmons.

If you recall, Richard Simmons filed a defamation lawsuit after The National Enquirer claimed that Simmons was transitioning into a woman and going by the name “Fiona.”

Simmons fired back and listed the reasons he’s not trans, one of those reasons being, he’s not trans. The other reasons included the fact that he’s male, he’s never sought treatment to transition into a woman and he doesn’t have boobs.

But most of all, he’s not trans because he’s not trans, OK?

Unfortunately, Simmons lost the defamation lawsuit, because the court didn’t want to “validate prejudice.” In other words, even though The National Enquirer published a complete lie about Simmons, it’s OK because being trans isn’t anything to be offended by! It’s a good thing! He should be happy about that blatant mischaracterization!

“While, as a practical matter, the characteristic may be held in contempt by a portion of the population, the court will not validate those prejudices by legally recognizing them,” the judge said.

How ridiculous is that?

It gets worse for poor little Richard.  He’s been ordered to pay for The National Enquirer’s legal costs.

According to court docs, Simmons has been ordered to cover attorney costs and any other court fees incurred by the Enquirer. You’ll recall, Richard sued the tabloid for defaming him with a story saying he was in the process of sexual reassignment.

 

He lost the case with the judge saying being misidentified as transgender doesn’t expose someone to “hatred, contempt or ridicule.”

 

The exact amount of attorney’s fees hasn’t been determined yet. We broke the story … Richard plans to appeal, so if he wins he’ll most likely be off the hook for the Enquirer’s lawyers.

I hope Richard appeals and wins. Everything about this story is ridiculous.