That time Dr. Ruth called out Richard Simmons for not watching her show
Sexually Speaking in 1980, which quickly amassed a huge following that led to a TV spinoff called The Dr. Ruth Show. By 1985, it attracted two million viewers a week.
Simmons appeared on the show while promoting “Richard and the Silver Foxes,” a workout video catered to the 55+ crowd that featured appearances by his own mother, as well as the mothers of Farrah Fawcett and Sylvester Stallone and the fathers of Al Pacino and Dustin Hoffman.In their conversation, it’s clear the two really like each other as they talk about everything from their families, to the importance of diet and exercise, to the time Simmons asked his parents if he could change his name to Diana Ross.The interview takes what could have been a cringey turn around the 4:50 mark, when the fitness guru casually asks the sex therapist if her parents were still alive.
Westheimer, of course, was born in Germany but fled the Holocaust at 10 years old and became an orphan when her parents were killed in the concentration camps.
In Dr. Ruth’s wise words: “Respect is not debatable.”When she informs him about this very well-known part of her biography, he immediately apologizes and the two are able to make light of the awkward moment.“Everyone who listens to the show knows it,” Dr.
