UPDATE: Richard Simmons issued a statement at 7:33 p.m. ET Sunday via his publicist, Tom Estey. It says: "Thank you to everyone who has reached out with love and concern after hearing I was in the hospital. I was dehydrated and needed some fluids and now I am feeling great! Summer is here — drink plenty of liquids. Big hugs and kisses for caring."
Original story: Richard Simmons' representative says the fitness instructor and former TV personality is doing fine.
Questions about the celebrity's condition arose after a TMZ report that Simmons had been hospitalized Friday night in Los Angeles.
However, in an email to USA TODAY, Simmons' spokesman Tom Estey said his client was not in a hospital as of Sunday afternoon and "He's just fine."
In March, Simmons was in the headlines after a story in The New York Daily News reported accusations by friends that the fitness guru was being held against his will in his Hollywood Hills home. At the time, Estey said the report was "ludicrous" and that his longtime client "does not want to be in the public eye right now."
At 67 and having been in the public eye for 40 years, Estey said in March, "It’s his right to do it. That’s the god’s honest truth. There’s nothing more to it than that."
