Jessica Simpson’s WW contract is in jeopardy because of her pregnancy

Jessica Simpson’s unconfirmed second pregnancy news sort of got blown out of the water when Duchess Kate announced HER pregnancy. You know what’s funny about that? I think Jessica and Kate probably conceived around the same time. I think they’re both around two months pregnant right now. TWINSIES! Hahaha. Can you imagine being twinsies with Jessica Simpson? Farty and Waity: The Bumpy Adventure! Anyway, so yes, Jessica is probably pregnant and when Weight Watchers was forced to issue a statement about the speculation, the statement seemed especially terse. Now Us Weekly says “terse” barely even covers it:

In the Dec. 17 issue of Us Weekly (on stands Friday), a source says execs are livid that their new spokeswoman, 32, got pregnant just seven months after welcoming daughter Maxwell. “They’re furious at Jessica,” says the source of the star, who has a $4 million deal to shed to the pounds.

The source adds, “She was already on thin ice with them since she didn’t lose enough for the first ad, when they had to shoot from the waist up.”

As a result, Simpson’s second campaign — celebrating a 70-pound loss — may not air.

“They don’t think it can run,” the source explains. “No one wants to hear about a pregnant woman dieting. Her pregnancy confuses the message,” said a source. “Her new ads – which were shot in November – might not even air and there’s a chance they won’t pay her the whole $4 million.”

(A Simpson pal counters that the ads will see the light of day: “It was Weight Watchers’ idea to shoot her from the waist up the first time.”)

[From Us Weekly]

Remember her Weight Watchers commercial? God, this never fails to make me laugh:

So what “sources” are saying now is that it was the idea of the Weight Watchers people to only shoot Jessica from the neck up? But I thought that was Jessica’s idea – at least that’s what she said at the time! Yeah… this was always a fraudulent shell game. ALWAYS. And I really think there are people at WW who are going to lose their jobs over this. But that’s what you get when you have the bright idea of handing Jessica Simpson $4 million to stop eating funions and brownies. NEVER take that bet.

Anyway, Gossip Cop got a statement from WW denying the specific part about whether they’ll run the new ads. The statement: “What Us Weekly is reporting about our relationship with Jessica is untrue. There have been no changes to our contract with Jessica and we have a great relationship with her. We’re thrilled with the ads we shot with her in November and we can’t wait to launch our winter campaign later this month, which will include Jessica.” My take? WW will run the new ads and that will be the end of that. Meaning, once Jessica officially announces her pregnancy – she’ll probably push the announcement until January, I think – she and Weight Watcher will part ways. Maybe she’ll get all $4 million, maybe she won’t. For now, WW is going to air the commercials because that’s literally all they’ve got to show for this awful endorsement deal.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

48 Responses to “Jessica Simpson’s WW contract is in jeopardy because of her pregnancy”

Comments are Closed

We close comments on older posts to fight comment spam.

  1. justalark says:

    This whole situation sounds like a damage control scenario that my son would study in his business school. I think Weight Watchers should seize this opportunity and let Jessica Simpson represent the millions of women who struggle to keep/take the weight off before, during, after, and in between pregnancies.

    This situation is not unique for women in their child-bearing years, so Jessica should not have to feel shame for growing her family. Yes, the timing was not ideal, but pregnancy happens. I bet a lot of women either emphasize or identify with Jessica right now!

    • Tammy says:

      People want Jessica to fail so badly they will consider even a pregnancy a failure. I still think she did awesome at losing the weight. Why can’t people admit that?

      That and constantly implying people at weight watchers should/will lose their jobs over her getting pregnant both leave me scratching my head.

      • t says:

        People don’t consider the pregnancy a failure. Some believe Jessica Simpson got pregnant as a way to save face while getting out of her contract because though she’s been crowing about a 70 pound weight loss, it is not due to Weight Watchers, but Simpson pulling a fast one with creative math…

        10 pounds of baby
        10 pounds of afterbirth
        10 pounds of “extra amniotic fluid”
        10 pounds of dried up milk, post-nursing

        which adds up to 40 pounds and the Katie Couric appearance in September where Jessica still looked large.

        The rest of the weight she claims to have lost on Weight Watchers can be broken down thusly…

        September liposuction: 8 pounds
        October liposuction: 8 pounds
        November liposuction: 8 pounds*

        Those 24 liposuctioned pounds bring us to 64 pounds lost WITHOUT Weight Watchers. Which means Jessica lost only 6 pounds in six months using weight watchers.

        Jessica probably figured it was easier to get pregnant than to continue to get lipo every month.

        *up to 8 pounds of fat can be liposuctioned every 4 weeks according to liposuction. com.

      • Belle says:

        Since when is counting the weight of the baby, placenta, amniotic fluid… and what was it, oh ‘dried up milk’ fuzzy math? All of that weight is added up as you are gaining it, and certainly counts when you are losing it. Do some of those pounds come off more quickly? Yes. But does that mean you don’t count them as you are losing? Hell no! It’s all pregnancy weight.

        No comment on the liposuction. No idea if she had that done… but if she did, I don’t think she had it done once a month. Not only would it be risky, but there are so many variables with liposuction that a blanket statement from ‘liposuction.com’ means little.

        Oh, I guess I did have a comment on the lipo. 😉

      • t says:

        @ Belle…

        Whatever she lost in the delivery room was due to her obstetrician and the hospital staff, not Weight Watchers, so it’s dishonest to claim it as weight lost on the program.

        Unless I missed something…has Weight Watchers branched out into midwifery?

        I guess she could count any weight lost through lipo as a Weight Watchers loss only if her Weight Watchers wrangler was the one did the liposuctioning.

    • swack says:

      ” . . . struggle to keep/take the weight off before, during, after, and in between pregnancies.” You should not be trying to keep the weight off during the pregnacy. I find you statement a bit offensive. You should be eating the amount to gain what the doctor wants you to gain – 25 to 30 pounds. I know someone who kept the weight off during pregnancy and the child has all kinds of issues.

      • megs283 says:

        @swack – I hear where you’re coming from, but as someone who is a bit pudgy anyhow, I think when I’m pregnant it will be a challenge to “keep weight off” – I have NO problem gaining weight for the health of the baby, but I tend to go “above and beyond” so to speak when it comes to what I eat – so perhaps that’s the situation that justalark was referring to. So, avoiding unhealthy weight gain due to inactivity and pigging out, not natural “growing a baby” weight gain.

      • Jenni says:

        I think she meant that many women do struggle with excess weight gain in pregnancy, not that they should try to gain less than advised. It’s actually better to try to gain the 25-35 lbs rather than to just decide pregnancy is a time not to worry about it. A lot of women who decide to eat whatever they feel like will gain excessive amounts of weight. I’ve known some women who will sit down and eat an entire cake from the wal-mart bakery because they think, being pregnant, they should just forget about weight for awhile. Didn’t Kate Hudson gain 70 lbs with her first baby? But most of us don’t have chefs and personal trainers and night nurses, and for most women who gain 50-100 lbs in a pregnancy, they aren’t likely to lose all the weight postpartum. It’s better to eat sensibly during pregnancy.

      • justalark says:

        Swack, I am NOT talking about a 25-30 pound weight gain during pregnancy. I am talking about women who gain 50, 60, or even 70 pounds and therby increase their risks of pregnancy complications. Unfortunately, some women use pregnancy as an excuse to eat anything and everything, which is not a healthy practice for either mother or baby. For these women, a little nutrition guidance would be a very good thing!

      • emmie_a says:

        Swack: It’s a bit rare for the baby to have complications if the mother doesn’t gain adequate weight. I work with women with eating disorders and anorexic women very often have healthy babies but unfortunately the mother’s body takes a beating because during the pregnancy the fetus takes everything it needs from the mother and unless she is getting adequate nourishment she is left worse for wear, not the baby.

  2. Amy625 says:

    Is Jessica even pregnant? Like with all celebrities it was claimed she was pregnant again as soon as she gave birth. I don’t know how endorsement deals work but I doubt the celebrity gets paid the whole amount up front. I would assume installment payments of some kind.

    • t says:

      E! had a story a few days ago about how these endorsement deals are typically structured. You are right…the celebrities don’t get paid everything up front.

      “…weight-loss contracts usually have a pregnancy clause in them…famous spokespeople don’t get their money paid in one lump sum as there are several triggers throughout the deal that are tied to the number of pounds they lose and services they do.

      For instance, they get paid to, say, shoot a commercial, then paid again once the spot rolls out, as well as when they reach a certain weight.”

      http://tinyurl.com/c6hs53m

      So Jessica Simpson failed to make weight (according to the Us story) in time for the first commercial, so she wouldn’t have gotten any money for weight loss. She was shot from the neck up in an attempt to fool the public about losing weight, so she probably got paid something for the ad and again when it aired.

      It’s probably a safe bet to say she got far less than 4 million. But with Simpson, it was never about the money, she was using Weight Watchers to promote herself and get press.

  3. CreamSoda says:

    I feel like eating funions now. Haven’t had them in years, but now that you’ve mentioned them…

  4. OXA says:

    Weight Watchers is livid? They are sounding like the Catholic Church or the Republican Party, WW needs to out of a woman’s uterus and choices.

    • Sam says:

      You make your own choices up until you sign a contract giving somebody else some control over your choices.

      I didn’t sign a contract with any Catholics or Republicans. She did sign a contract with WW.

  5. Jules says:

    She will just sign with Jenny Craig next, and burn them with kid #3. Then there’s Medical Weight Loss centers…….

  6. the original bellaluna says:

    That ad was NOT shot “from the waist up” unless my understanding of the location of my waist is completely false.

    That statement from WW essentially says “If her ass wasn’t pregnant, she’d be dropped and wouldn’t get a dime; but in the US you can’t discriminate against a pregnant woman by firing her slutty brownie-eating ass.”

  7. truthful says:

    I totally agree CB with everything you’ve posted.

    Its a wrap w/WW.

    that video from the waist up makes me laugh soo hard…everytime I saw it on television.

    I would quiet the house, ssshhhhhhhh and then fall out laughing.

    I wou

    hysterical

  8. alc says:

    Kate and Jessica may have gotten pregnant at the same time but I think Kate and Will probably used their brains,knew exactly when she was ovulating and had at it! When a woman gets pregnant fast again like Jessica, she’s probably thinking the old “if I’m breast-feeding, I can’t get pregnant, can I”! Jessica isn’t the brightest bulb on some common sense issues, ie Chicken of the Sea. Maybe the whole thing is to detract from the Papa Joe thing. As for WW, suck this! I’m pretty tired of celebs and everyone else yelling at me to diet. Eat healthy and exercise, especially when pregnant, and you’re good, even if you aren’t a stick! The End of it.

  9. RocketMerry says:

    Aww, the baby is so blonde and cute and blue eyed! Pretty 🙂

  10. LucyS says:

    I do the WW program and I have to say, her participation is a total fraud. I read (I think here?) that her personal chef made all her meals according to points specification and that most of her meals, except maybe dinner, were smoothies and liquids. Anyone who thinks she herself followed the plan and not a nutritionist and personal chef who did it for her is deluding themselves. It’s a total cheat and it pisses me off that they represent that to people who actually think they can achieve the same thing in the same timeframe. I have to prepare my own meals, exercise without a personal trainer, and do it all around my kid’s schedule because I don’t have a nanny and I do have a full time job (he’s in preschool during the day). So this whole “If Jessica can do it, you can too” BS just annoys me (all of this can apply to JHud, too). Celebrity endorsements for weight loss problems are a total joke.

    • Dawn says:

      You 100% correct. Well said.

    • Amory says:

      Could not agree more. Her weight was not lost gradually. After losing very little for 5 months, She went from still very heavy to slimmed down in about a month, a month that she spent out of the public eye. Not sure why everyone thinks she actually used WW.

    • the original bellaluna says:

      So, so very true! I get so sick of those “Follow So-and-So’s Meal/Exercise Plan and You Can Do It Too!” tripe articles in the tabs/online.

      Yeah, right. As long as I can afford to have 3 fresh meals and 2 healthy snacks delivered to my door on a daily basis; or the personal chef to prepare everything to whatever said specifications may be; or the all-natural, free-range, organic ingredients (which LOTS of grocers don’t even carry); the personal trainer; the free time to work out 2 (or 4 or 6) hours a day; the nanny(s) to watch the kids(s) and a personal chef for THEIR meals; and not have to work a regular old 40+ hours per week job.

      All these “celeb endorsements” make me do is roll my eyes, mute the volume (I just cannot stomach J-Hud & Mariah’s triumphant diet yodeling) or change the channel. And the I have to find my eyes, which have rolled so hard they’ve fallen out of the sockets.

      NOT worth it!

    • erika says:

      yup wisely said. WW isn’t about smoothies and enema’s…no tricks. just smart.

      aye, there lies the rub! ‘smart’ weight loss and ‘dingle brains’ jessica just don’t add up.

    • OutstandingWoldCitizen says:

      It was laughable to even hire her as a spokesperson. Yeah we all know her struggles with weight and have seen those notorious high-waisted mom jeans photos ad nauseam but she is wealthy enough to let the contract go.

      WW was just another revenue stream, she does quite well and the money is not from her non existent music/movie career.

      Look, JS should enjoy her pregnancies and her children, then get back to the battle of the bulge – not as spokesperson because she is the worst example due to her horrible eating habits – when she and her significant other agree that 2, 3 or 4 children are enough.

    • littlemissnaughty says:

      Yup. All very true.

      WW is nothing for lazy people, you need to plan your meals, you can’t walk into the grocery store without a list, you should exercise and you have to stick with it.
      That’s where, as annoying as they are, JH and Mariah did deliver though. I don’t doubt they had people cook for them (as IF Mariah would deign to count points herself) and a personal trainer whip them into shape BUT they didn’t gain the weight back.
      And that’s where Jessica f**ked WW and why, in my opinion, this is not about “a woman’s right to get pregnant”. Of course she has every right to get knocked up any time she chooses but she shouldn’t get paid for delivering on only 50% of her contract. WW is about being able to keep the weight off. To a lot of people, losing weight is not a big deal but keeping it off? With a healthy diet and exercise? Dude. Incredibly difficult. But now she doesn’t have to I guess. Fine. But WW really can’t expect anyone to look to her for weight loss inspiration.

  11. Simple Red says:

    Next candidate… I wonder who will represent them after this debacle

  12. Sam says:

    She must really be rich, since she jeoparidzed 4 million dollars pretty easily. I still can’t believe that she was so dumb. Does every gynocologist in American need a picture of Jessica in their office so they can point to it and ask women “Do you want to be like her, who lost 4 million bucks because she couldn’t use birth control correctly? Get the damn implant, woman.”

    • Chordy says:

      I’m really impressed that it took 12 whole comments before someone busted out the “getting pregnant means she’s a stupid idiot who doesn’t know how to use birth control that’s always 100% effective even in the postpartum hormonal surge months.”

      • Sam says:

        Uh, she said herself that she did not want to have another child for a while. Thus, either (1) she lied or (2) she failed to use BC responsibily. She also had a 4 million dollar contract

        Women are the only ones getting pregnant. Men don’t. Thus, whether you like it or not, women bear most of the responsibility for planning their reproductive lives. There are methods now aavilable that are nearly 100% and totally free of human error, like implants. She does not lack insurance and has the means to choose any method she wants. Her doctor would have brought this up with her prior to discharge. And yes, if you’re a woman who doesn’t take some responsibility for yourself, you’re a dumbass. I’d say it to anyone’s face. If it happened to you, own up to it.

      • Sunshine says:

        @ Sam, ever think she changed her mind? I don’t know what your problem is, but the state of a woman’s uterus is really her own domain. Even if she’s offered up tidbits in the past, let her have as many tow-headed babies as she’d like.

  13. KellyinSeattle says:

    I think Maxie is super adorable (our entire family has had 16 boys in a row, and we’re dying to dress a baby girl! I put my boy in suits/cute clothes but it just isn’t the same) and her hubby is good looking. I doubt she really cares about her contract anymore; probably actually would like to be done with it; I wouldn’t want people tracking my weight during a pregnancy….

  14. Izzy says:

    As a lifetime member of WW, I was offended by their use of Jessica Simpson as a spokesperson (and not only because she is truly one of the dumbest people on the planet).

    First of all, while I was lucky to be able to hire a personal trainer to help with exercise, I still had to work out on my own five days a week. I had to make the effort regardless of the support team around me. Second, I have no personal chef. I had lost the weight, gained it back many years later, then went back to WW and worked with my doctor to monitor my health and progress, and lost 50 pounds, which have stayed off for a year and counting. It’s called CHANGING YOUR BAD EATING HABITS.

    And finally, even for someone who is trying to lose weight post-pregnancy, Jessica Simpson still sets a bad example. She used her body like a garbage disposal, inhaling every fatty, sugary food within reach. This is by her own admission. She did not consider her own health, or that of her unborn child, while pigging out.

    Many women gain a lot of weight while pregnant, it’s true. But not all of them gain it mostly because of their bad eating habits. She did. Bad choice, WW. I know a number of non-celebrity WW members who would be much better spokespeople.

    • Amory says:

      Awesome working on losing the weight again! I totally agree with everything you said. It’s shameful to use a spokesperson who quite deliberately packed on the pounds, and Jessica’s attempt to represent the average gal is an insult to women everywhere.

      Most importantly, I do not believe for even a millisecond that she lost the weight through WW – besides all of her personal assistants and the fact that weight loss was a full time job, I think she had some help from the plastic surgeon.

  15. erika says:

    GOOD on weight watchers! I hope they pull her contract.

    I can smell the fried Oreo bullS**t all over jessica. Her massive appetite for greed (and grease) got her into this mess. She was a glutton during pregnancy, she was a glutton after, at the very last minute (when it didn’t really count) she dropped the weight and BOOM she’s pregnant again?

    pisses me off! WW is such a smart, safe, proven effective weight loss program. I’ve done it and it did wonders in the best way. Eat the right balance of foods *yes, even chocolate*, in the right quantities and you will gradually lose weight.

    Knowing that she couldn’t keep up the maintenance (ummm yeah jess, you just can’t quit that logic of smart eating once you’ve dropped the weight off), shagged her beau to death and got pregnant again to avoid losing $$$

    i suspect it’s a VERY stressful time for her right now w/ her father’s ‘issues’ and for her to balance her lifestyle: new mom, $$$ business, keep the man happy and deal w/ Dad AND Mum WITHOUT (!?!??!?) the thought of deep fried oreo’s and Texmex? NO WAY.

    Worst spokesperson ever for WW.

  16. Nilber says:

    I agree with the majority of the comments on here about WW. I am blown away at the commentary about BC though. I was on BC and was on antibiotics so we used a condom. Not to mention I only have 1 ovary that actually works. I was pregnant when I sat in the doctors office being told I would have to use fertility treatments when we decided to try.
    I do not give Jessica any credit when it comes to common sense but to blame her for being pregnant…no. I realize she had a responsibility to WW but it doesn’t mean she “meant” to get preggers. Sometimes it happens… if she even is pregnant.

  17. Anon says:

    Wow just wow. All the judgements with little knowledge. First she does not have a personal chef any longer. Secondly Jess has never said what her weight goal was & neither has WW. It’s all tabloid speculation and weight is never known till the contract is over. Third the whole problem here is everyone is irate because the amount of money being paid was released or leaked. Nothing has ever been confirmed on it. Interesting are you not interested in what Hudson & Barkley were paid or any other celeb. I would say with all the hate and ridicule here that Jessica is earning every dime for that and she has many of you to thank for that. Sad when so many women attack other women. I think many if you are in for a shock as Jessica will maintain her contract with WW. You can all loll forward to that as WW makes some changes and broadens some things in there plans. Stay tuned. Stay tuned and can’t wait to see the hate all fire back up again Merry Christmas everyone and don’t let Scrooge bite the butts too early. 😉

  18. Not a Bot says:

    She should shield her baby’s eyes from all the flashes.