Still an open book. Jessica Simpson is sharing intimate details of her past in her Movie Star: They Always Say They’re Single essay — including an infamous affair she had with an unnamed movie star.
“This megastar, who I grew up thinking was so hot, eyeballed me up and down. Like he was undressing me with his eyes,” Simpson, 42, wrote in her Amazon essay, which was published on Wednesday, February 1, of the twosome’s first meeting at the 2001 Video Music Awards.
The pair quickly hit it off as the “Take My Breath Away” singer navigated one of her breakups from ex-husband Nick Lachey. (Simpson and Lachey, 49, were married between 2002 and 2006 after an on-and-off romance.)
The Texas native — who did not further identify her mystery man — initially “wasn’t ready” to take things further following the VMAs afterparty, but later ran into him again at the gym in Los Angeles. There, she invited him to star in one of her upcoming music videos.
“‘You could be my lead guy,’ I offered to this man who made millions and millions per film,” she claimed in Wednesday’s essay.
The twosome’s connection did not go any further as Simpson reconciled with Lachey in September 2001, with the Employee of the Month star declining to call the actor back. However, once Simpson and Lachey divorced, she reconnected with her mystery man, who allegedly first kissed her at the Beverly Hills Hilton.
“I felt this warm rush all the way down my body to the tips of my toes in my wedges,” the Open Book author wrote.
Despite an intense first kiss, Simpson was heartbroken when saw red carpet pics of her supposed beau and his then-girlfriend.
“I was never ever in a million years going to be the other woman,” she claimed, asserting that the movie star told her their relationship was “completely over” and he was only interested in pursuing Simpson.
The twosome went on to embark on a whirlwind romance, attending events at nightclubs together and bonding over the birth of Simpson’s goddaughter. The fashion designer even visited her man on a movie set, however, that trip made her feel like she was only there to “have sex” with her famous fling.
“Yes, there was something sexy and enticing about all this, but there was also something demeaning about it. I felt like a call girl,” Simpson recalled in the passage, noting it felt like he was trying to “hide” her from his “chick.” She continued: “I didn’t care if he was my teenage fantasy come to life, this was not a choice that same girl, my younger self, would be proud of.”
The Newlyweds alum left his room the next day and broke off their romance. Simpson — who has previously been linked to John Mayer, Jensen Ackles, Johnny Knoxville and Tony Romo — married former football player Eric Johnson in 2014.
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“I don’t feel like our marriage has been long, but I feel like I’ve loved Eric my whole life,” the Dukes of Hazzard star— who shares daughters Maxwell, 10, and Birdie, 3, and son Ace, 9, with her spouse — exclusively gushed to Us Weekly in April 2022. “I guess in the moment I met him, it felt like a marriage.”
She continued at the time: “We rarely fight. If we do, it’s more conversational, and it’s not like, ‘He’s right or she’s right.’ It’s not about winning.”
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