--- description: Fitness mogul Richard Simmons has inked a new deal with a company that will take on his licensing, merchandising and endorsements title: Richard Simmons Just Signed a New Merchandising Deal image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdd71e9671a636e45/6988c191dcd4a15ee107528b/richard-simmons.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [celebrities](/tag/celebrities/) ## celebrities Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Richard Simmons Just Signed a New Merchandising Deal by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Apr 5, 2017 8:01 PM CUT  Richard Simmons during the 2011 Miss USA hula hoop contest Mile Shops on June 10, 2011 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Richard Simmons during the 2011 Miss USA hula hoop contest Mile Shops on June 10, 2011 in Las Vegas, Nevada.Denise Truscello—WireImage by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Apr 5, 2017 8:01 PM CUT The reclusive fitness mogul Richard Simmons, back in cultural consciousness due to the popular podcast [_Missing Richard Simmons_](http://time.com/4709592/best-podcasts-2017/ "undefined"), has inked a new deal with a company to take on his licensing, merchandising and endorsements. With the deal, Prominent Brand + Talent now plans to expand on Simmons’s current lineup, which has sold more than $1.5 billion in merchandise, trade publication [License Global reported](http://www.licensemag.com/license-global/prominent-takes-richard-simmons-exclusive?mkt%5Ftok=eyJpIjoiWTJJMk1qYzBNelk1T1dRMCIsInQiOiJDUzNaQmwrc2ZTOE1jWGxvQTdnTDN5RUl1bXJhYUJoME9odHRocGFodTd2OXpnanh2UjIxa1pJYk1NenFqMHlTa2hZWGh2ZGRKK0ZXTklieEhEUGhtV3lmVzJOMGZuZnJSQUVqXC9JdHZ0THZJeHBmZnA3WVFZTzZLWXc3SzNWbXkifQ%3D%3D "undefined"). Simmons signed the deal with Prominent partly because of the popularity of _Missing Richard Simmons_, which explored his abrupt disappearance from public life and his friends’ lives without explanation in 2014, according to his longtime manager Michael Catalano. The show aired its final episode on March 20. Catalano [told](http://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/05/reclusive-fitness-legend-richard-simmons-signs-new-merchandising-deal.html "undefined") CNBC that the podcast and a recent [_People_ story](http://people.com/bodies/richard-simmons-childhood-fitness-guru-new-orleans/ "undefined") about Simmons “created an outpouring of interest” in the star. “And a lot of that has been in the licensing group area,” he said. It is unclear whether Simmons will emerge into public life again to promote his products. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4727626/richard-simmons-merchandise-prominent-deal-missing/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4727626/richard-simmons-merchandise-prominent-deal-missing/"},"headline":"Richard Simmons Just Signed a New Merchandising Deal","datePublished":"2017-04-05T20:01:04.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T04:14:26.517Z","description":"He was the subject of the recent podcast Missing Richard Simmons","url":"https://time.com/4727626/richard-simmons-merchandise-prominent-deal-missing/","keywords":["celebrities","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdd71e9671a636e45/6988c191dcd4a15ee107528b/richard-simmons.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdd71e9671a636e45/6988c191dcd4a15ee107528b/richard-simmons.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Chinese Laundry Presents The Miss USA Hula Hoop Competition With Richard Simmons","caption":"Chinese Laundry Presents The Miss USA Hula Hoop Competition With Richard Simmons","creditText":"Denise Truscello—WireImage","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/celebrities/","name":"celebrities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4727626/richard-simmons-merchandise-prominent-deal-missing/","name":"Richard Simmons Just Signed a New Merchandising Deal"}}]}] ```