Pauly Shore s hope of portraying the late fitness guru Richard Simmons in a biopic continues to face strong opposition, as Simmons staff and family are speaking out.

Speaking to TMZ on Tuesday , Shore confirmed that his long-gestating film about Simmons who died last month at age 76 was still in the works. He also shrugged off Simmons repeated denouncements of the project on social media.

I know he wanted me to do it, the actor and comedian said. I dont even know if that was him tweeting the whole time, to be quite honest. I dont know who that was.

Shores comments drew a firm retort from Simmons staff on social media.

Pauly Shore has recently made comments to TMZ Paparazzi concerning his attempts to proceed with an unauthorized movie about Richard, Simmons staff wrote in a Wednesday statement . Youve seen here on Richards account what he had to say about the biopic.

The statement also included a quote attributed to Simmons brother, Lenny Simmons, who said, Dicky absolutely wrote his own posts. He worked on them a week in advance, going over and over them to get the right message.

What he has NOT done was to text, email or call Pauly with anything; not even to wish him Good Luck as Pauly has stated many times , he added.