Yesterday, I had an interesting little piece from OK! Magazine that included a few choice quotes from Joe Simpson. Papa Joe was discussing Ashlee Simpson’s marriage problems, and how he’ll “never let his daughters be alone” whenever they’re in crisis. Well, PopEater had an interesting pro-Pete Wentz story about Papa Joe too. According to a pro-Pete insider, “Just like when Jessica split from Nick, Joe is doing nothing to encourage Ashlee to give the marriage another try, if only for the sake of her son. Joe likes being the only man in his daughters’ lives and is happy that Ashlee has moved back into his home [in Encino, Calif.], just like Jessica did after she announced she was leaving Nick…Joe got rid of Nick, and now he is saying goodbye to Pete. Let’s hope Ashlee finds more happiness than Jessica did when she finds herself officially single again.” Ouch.

Now, Even though the idea of Papa Joe forcing out his daughters’ significant others is particularly juicy, I have to admit, I don’t completely buy it. I think Joe stage-manages Jessica’s relationships, sure, but Jessica is now and has always been his blatant favorite. I just don’t see him as super-involved with Ashlee. And maybe Ashlee is the one who needs his help, even more than Jessica. Us Weekly has another pro-Pete story too – and this one is all about Ashlee’s alleged late-night problems:

When the going gets tough, the tough go partying — at least Ashlee Simpson does. Although their Feb. 9 divorce announcement took many by surprise, pals close to Simpson and husband Pete Wentz tell the new Us Weekly that the spouses of nearly three years “have been talking about splitting up forever.”

Simpson, 26, had coped in part with the impending split by having some late, late-night fun. “Ashlee has been out late partying for the past few months,” says one insider.

Specifically, the singer-actress — and mom to son Bronx, 2 — hangs with a crew of pro skateboarders in San Clemente, Calif., and returns home at sunrise.

“She would lose track of time,” the insider says. A source says a part-time nanny helps look after Bronx, and in her divorce filing, Ashlee asked for physical custody of Bronx and child support.

A Simpson source says the skateboarder thing is all innocent, however. The skaters are from Joe Simpson’s new show, The X-Life. “She went to the wrap party for the shoot, and Pete deejayed. They went and came back together.

Fall Out Boy rocker Wentz, 31, “started getting burnt out” by those antics, another source says. On the road with his band, he “would constantly check in on Ashlee, and he’d have his friends call the house and her cell to make sure she said she was where she said she was going to be,” an insider explains. “He felt like he couldn’t trust her.”

Even when Wentz was at home, Simpson didn’t put on the brakes. At a December 14 dinner party at the LA restaurant Eveleigh, Ashlee, “had a good amount of Belevedere cocktails… she wasn’t being loud, but you could tell she was drunk.” Wentz left a full hour and a half before his wife, who chainsmoked outside with Nicki Hilton.

Add to that, Ashlee’s career problems, like getting fired from Melrose Place halfway through the season. “She’s frustrated and insecure,” says on source, saying that the anxiety has caused her to lose weight. “She’s so skinny… I worry.”

[From Us Weekly, print and online editions]

I’ve read the print edition of Us Weekly too, and there’s even more in there. Here are a few tidbits: Ashlee has decided to go back to her maiden name. Ashlee and Pete’s marriage fell apart a few months into their marriage, and Ashlee only got married because her parents basically forced her to (through guilt, I think). “Everything changed” after she got pregnant. Sources also say that she’s left the home she shared with Pete, and she’s moved back in with her parents.

Oh, and here’s another gem: Us Weekly’s sources say that Joe Simpson is going to try to use Ashlee’s divorce to re-launch her career. Once source predicts, “In a few weeks, she’ll have an album annoucement… Then he’ll announce she’ll go back on Saturday Night Live to promote it.” Ooooh… that should be good!

Photos courtesy of Fame.

For some reason, Joe Simpson consistently gives all of his late-breaking official statements to OK! Magazine. Granted, Papa Joe isn’t “People Mag worthy” but you’d think Us Weekly would throw him a bone and print his magical words. Anyway, Joe finally makes a statement on his daughter Ashlee’s split from Pete Wentz. To my knowledge, this is Joe’s first statement on the subject, and it’s all folded into a larger story about Pete and Ashlee’s split.

“Things were not right for a while,” Ashlee’s father, Joe Simpson says exclusively to OK!.

“Ashlee has lost weight in the last six months and was upset all the time. When she needed Pete, he was never around,” a friend reveals. “She basically gave up her career when she got pregnant with Bronx. She spent weeks alone; he went on with his life.”

A family friend adds: “Ashlee does have an amazing temper. She’s very spoiled and can be very dramatic. I’ve seen her screaming, slamming doors. She’s threatened to leave a million times.”

“We will never let our daughters be alone,” says Joe. “We are here to hug them and give them a shoulder to cry on.”

[From OK! Magazine, print edition]

There’s more – Ashlee has “trust issues” but some say she had reason to not trust Pete – that he was always coming home with girls’ numbers, and some think he was screwing around. But OK! Magazine also emphasizes how they’re both spending time working on their issues now, and that Pete comes over nearly every day to see Ashlee and Bronx.

Regarding the Joe Simpson stuff – sorry I built that up so much when it was just two little quotes! I wonder if he said much more and they just used the most basic stuff? BUT: “We will never let our daughters be alone.” Yes, that is one of the many problems, Joe.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

OK! Magazine got an exclusive interview with Joe Simpson, post-engagement. I have to admit something – whenever I think about Jessica’s engagement these days, I always get a wave of happiness thinking about how she was c—kblocked by Kate Middleton. After Jess tried to steal Nick Lachey’s thunder, Jess had her own thunder stolen! Instant karma. Anyway, Papa Joe Simpson is trying to get some attention for his beloved daughter (Ashlee doesn’t count!) and so he’s given a shockingly delusional interview. Well… most of it is his normal BS, but then he utters this line: “She is an example of a woman who had overcome obstacles and moved forward. If there’s one woman that Jessica and I are looking at — and where I want Jessica to be — it is Angelina Jolie.” Yes. Jessica Simpson is modeling herself after Angelina. In what way now?

Just after Jessica Simpson announced her engagement to Eric Johnson, her dad, Joe Simpson, sat down with Daphne Barak for his first-ever in-depth interview for this week’s issue of OK!. The stage dad opens up about Jessica’s future, business and weight and even confronts those nasty control freak rumors.

Daphne, who knows Joe well, says he is overwhelmed with fatherly pride. “I am so happy!” Jessica exclaimed to her father, who tells OK!, “I’m very happy for Jessica.”

Joe also added, “May they have a lifetime of joy and happiness.”

Jessica and Eric’s engagement isn’t the only thing the Simpson’s are celebrating though. “Jessica does not have to work anymore,” Joe reveals. Her businesses with be making a turnover of $700 million by the end of this year!

With everything going so well for the Simpson family, Joe must have seen it as the opportune time to let his guard down and finally open up to the public.

Joe on being the misconception of him as a control freak: “We let the girls [Jessica and sister Ashlee Simpson-Wentz] know we are here for them no matter what. They suffered so much in front of the world that I would not imagine it is possible unless each time it happened, we were there to take care of t hem. I am so happy my daughters want to spend time with us. This is one thing people who judge me don’t understand.”

Joe on the secret to The Jessica Simpson Collection’s huge success: “We always knew Jessica is Midwest America. Some people, when they move to Hollywood, they change. They buy different clothes, have different budgets. We never forget where we are from, where Jessica is from. And that is the clothes and accessories we are producing.”

Joe on Jessica’s weight: “I have nothing to do with Jessica’s weight. Jessica has been working since she was 12. She was told how to look perfect. How many people can look perfect all the time? I think she’s an all-American girl. She is sending a message to the world that it is okay to be normal; it is okay to indulge. Her message is: “Let me be normal! Everyone else gets to do it.”

Joe on what he wishes for Jessica: “She is an example of a woman who had overcome obstacles and moved forward. If there is one woman that Jessica and I are looking at — and where I want Jessica to be — it is Angelina Jolie.”

[From OK! Magazine]

New game: how Angelina and Farty McDumbAsABoxOfHair are different. Angelina has a thriving film career, while Jessica couldn’t pay someone to put her in a movie these days. Angelina is not managed by her freaky, trainwreck father. Angelina doesn’t make international headlines for wearing God-awful mom-jeans at a chili cook-off. Angelina also has never farted so loudly in a business meeting that her mom had to yell at her. Of course, that last one is pending. If Angelina was a gasbag, don’t you think the tabloids would have pounced on it by now?

In all honesty though… it’s completely dumb to use Angelina as a model – Jessica isn’t going to be an actress anymore, and her biggest success is as the face of a clothing brand, and as a former reality star and singer. You know who Papa Joe should use as a model? Dolly Parton. For real.

Jessica Simpson’s rep has confirmed Jessica and Eric Johnson’s happy engagement news to everybody at this point, and without any sense of shame or awkwardness at having a big announcement just nine days after Nick Lachey and Vanessa announced their engagement. Jessica even flashed her ring at a mall appearance on Friday – a ruby with two diamonds, set in yellow gold. No disrespect to Zales, but Eric has tacky style if he picked out this ring. Anyway, beyond the confirmation from Jess’s rep, I was waiting for Jessica’s father to say something. After all, this is the man who so obviously prefers (worships) one daughter over the other. This is a man who talks freely about the size of his daughter’s boobs. This is a man who seems to compulsively c-ckblock his daughter, in business and in life (the thought of c-ckblocking Jess turns him on, I think). So… as you can imagine, Papa Joe was probably weeping at the thought of Jessica getting married:

Someone sure sounds excited about walking his daughter down the aisle!

Just days after Jessica Simpson accepted a ruby-and-diamond engagement ring from her boyfriend of five months, football player Eric Johnson, the bride-to-be’s father, Joe Simpson, posted his good wishes on Twitter.

“So very happy for Jess and Eric,” he posted Sunday night. “May they have a lifetime of joy and happiness.”

Joe joined Johnson, 31, at the filming of Jessica’s Thanksgiving PBS special last month, where the singer, 30, gushed to PEOPLE about her relationship with her beau, which she termed “just normal, thank God. He’s very, very supportive.”

She added that she “couldn’t ask for a better man in my life right now.”

[From People]

Does anyone want to take bets on Jessica and/or Papa Joe f-cking this engagement up? I can see it going in one of two ways: either Eric has been fully prepared for every step of this engagement-to-wedding day famewhore extravanganza, and this is totally what he signed on for, OR Eric is going to run screaming in about two months, after Jessica’s millionth interview where she talks about Eric “loving her curves” and “being so smarty-pants” – and after the millionth time of Papa Joe making some kind of comment about his beautiful daughter’s massive rack. Ugh. This family. I want to hear from Tina.

UPDATE: Now I feel dumb for not seeing this one coming. According to PopEater’s gossip guy, Papa Joe and Jessica are already fighting over whether or not she needs a prenup. Note to Jess: You need a prenup! I’m with your daddy on this one. According to PopEater’s sources, “Nick walked away with over $10 million of her money when they divorced, because they had no prenup. You would think she would have learned her lesson. But where romance is concerned, Jess follows her heart not her head. At the moment, Joe is sitting back and being a great father, supporting his daughter and his future son-in-law… However, you can bet after all the excitement has died down, Joe is going to do everything in his power to make sure Jessica doesn’t walk down the aisle until Eric signs away any right he might have to Jessica’s enormous fortune.” Jess is worth an estimated $100 million, if not more.

Do you know how stupid Joe Simpson is? So stupid. Ridiculously stupid. Even dumber than Jessica. So, Jessica somehow managed to get herself a PBS special for Christmas. They filmed the special a few days ago, and I guess the idea was to have Jessica singing and talking about Jesus and how much she supported the troops. In and of itself, totally harmless and rather nice. But Papa Joe had to f-ck it up. Jessica was supposed to sing with a singing troop composed of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, but the veterans were sent away by Papa Joe – because he deemed them too “scruffy.” Stupid stupid stupid.

The team behind Jessica Simpson has been accused of snubbing a group of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans after their combat fatigues were deemed too scruffy to join her on stage for a glamorous TV special. The 4Troops, a singing group of combat veterans, were told their camouflage gear was not fancy enough to sing with Simpson on her PBS Christmas special filmed at the Roseland Ballroom on Thursday.

A source told Page Six, “Jessica’s dad, Joe Simpson, effectively kicked them off the show because he didn’t like what they were wearing. They were in camo pants and blazers, the same outfits they wore to sing for Gen. David Petraeus on the USS Intrepid. They were told they couldn’t perform unless they were wearing tuxedos.”

“They waited for six hours until midnight only to be told their number with Jessica had been cut from the show,” the source said. “The irony was Jessica was on stage saying how much she supports and admires the troops, and the veterans were stuck in a room in the basement. Instead of enduring more humiliation, the veterans left.”

4Troops consists of former Sgt. Daniel Jens, who was deployed in Iraq in 2007; former Capt. Meredith Melcher, who also served in Iraq; Staff Sgt. Ron Henry, who retired from the Army after a 20-year career; and former Sgt. David Clemo, who did tours in Afghanistan and Iraq.

A spokeswoman for 4Troops said, “Joe should be ashamed of himself.” Jens said, “I am so disappointed and angry, I threw up when I got back to my room.”

Simpson’s rep said: “The song was cut due to time. Jessica wasn’t even aware. She is wholeheartedly devoted to the troops. She just returned from the Persian Gulf where she performed for and met with service men and women stationed at several different locations. The military was the source of inspiration for her entire Christmas album, so much so that she recorded a duet for the album with a USS Harry Truman sailor.”

[From Page Six]

That’s just horrible. And as much as I’d like to blame Jess for it, it sounds like she was truly out of loop, and that it was Joe’s decision. Although, I will blame Jess for keeping her dad as her manager, despite his history of f-cking awful business decisions on her behalf. He’s a terrible manager, and after the first few f-ckups, you would think Jessica would have fired him and gotten a real manager who would be smart enough to let her sing with veterans, no matter what they looked like.

In additional Jessica news, she gave another loved-up interview to People Magazine, all about how Eric Johnson is her forever dong or whatever:

Jessica Simpson is one busy soul: In the past month, she’s traveled to the Middle East to meet troops, while on Thursday night she performed songs from her upcoming Christmas album for a PBS special to air Thanksgiving. There to support her? Her dad Joe, sister Ashlee, nephew Bronx – and her boyfriend of several months, Eric Johnson.

“He went and got a sweater and a bowtie to try to lift my spirits because I’ve been working extremely hard,” Simpson, 30, told PEOPLE after the show. “I laughed my butt off!”

She added, “As far as Eric and I go, we’re just best friends. He’s my dude! I love him.”

The couple began dating in May, and ever since have been spotted getting cozy across the U.S. and overseas – even celebrating her birthday together in Italy. If the relationship seems like it’s getting serious, that’s because it is. Simpson tells PEOPLE that they’re planning to spend Thanksgiving together.

“We’re all gonna be in New York,” she says. “I’m gonna be on a [Macy's parade] float. It’s not always the best way to spend a Thanksgiving, but it’s a great way to celebrate. So, maybe I’ll just have all families on the float.”

For now, Simpson says she and her man are simply enjoying spending time together.

“Tomorrow we’re having a long day off,” she says. “He loves art. So, we go to art galleries, and he loves photography. It’s cool.”

“This [relationship] is just normal, thank God,” she continues. “He’s very, very supportive. [I] couldn’t ask for a better man in my life right now.”

Which, of course, begs the big question: Is Johnson the one?

“I never go to that because I already went there, so, I’m not gonna jinx my own self,” she says. “He’s the one for me right now! I’m very happy, I’m in a great place and if right now could last forever, I’d take it.”

[From People]

Oh, Jessica. Seriously, DO WE HAVE TO DO THIS EVERY TIME? Girl, we know you believe in love. We know your little pea brain gets hypnotized by the dick. We know because it happens every single time you’re getting laid. Just take it down a notch. Just a little.

Photos of Eric and Jessica, courtesy of Jess’s Twit-pics.

Monday night was Ashlee Simpson’s Broadway debut, and her immediate family came out to support her. Jessica got weepy, Pete Wentz got drunk and had to pee, Mama Tina was quiet, as usual, and Joe Simpson decided to give some douchey quotes to some waiting journalists. Thank God he didn’t decide to wax poetic on Jessica’s breasts again, although the passive-aggressive force is strong with this family. Papa Joe decided he would make a pre-emptive attack against all of those people who would call his daughters “failures”. He actually used that word – “failures”. Anyway, he says “The world always want to make it look like we’re failures but we’re really just a family that works hard.” Right:

Nobody puts Joe Simpson’s babies in a corner.

At Monday’s performance of Chicago in Manhattan — where daughter Ashlee Simpson-Wentz made her Broadway debut in the role of Roxy — the Hollywood dad admitted to feeling besieged.

“We as a family are under a lot pressure,” Simpson said, adding that people want “to make us look bad and wants us to fail.”

This past year, the proud patriarch saw Jessica, 29, struggle with her weight, mourn the death-by-coyote of her beloved dog Daisy and get dumped by boyfriend Tony Romo.

(Next year she returns to reality TV with The Price of Beauty, the VH1 series set to debut in March.)

While Ashlee, 25, and husband Pete Wentz doted on baby Bronx, who just turned one, she was also recently fired from the CW’s Melrose Place.

“It was never a loss,” her father says of the Melrose burn. “The world says whatever it says. [The world], again, always want to make it look like we’re failures but we’re really just a family that works hard.”

The happy dad — who cried during Ashlee’s Chicago performance — praised both of his daughters’ ability to roll with the punches. “My children look at ups and downs and rise up above it all and remain strong…We’re just normal people, and we always try to be who we say we are.”

[From Us Weekly]

Here’s the thing: I’ll buy that some people call Jessica and/or Ashlee “failures”. I’ve seen it happen, and let’s face it, they have “failed” at certain things in their lives. We all do. They’re both resilient girls, so I get that the whole “working hard” thing is defensive for a reason. But it just seems like an odd message for Papa Joe to bring to an audience – especially given that he was at Ashlee’s big Broadway debut. And all he can think about is defending his girls from imaginary (or not so imaginary) attacks… and by doing so, he gives those criticisms legitimacy. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Papa Joe does more damage to his daughters’ careers than they do themselves. He needs to learn how to put a sock in it, at least around reporters.

Joe Simpson at Ashlee’s Broadway premiere in New York, November 30, 2009. Ashlee Simpson-Wentz and Jessica Simpson at Ashlee’s birthday celebration at Wet Republic at the MGM Grand Resort Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada on October 2, 2009.

How many of you knew that Dolly Parton was on Twitter? I didn’t know before today! I could have been following Dolly for months! Damn. Anyway, Dolly’s Twitter feed is pretty f-cking cool, just like the lady herself. Classic tweets, just from the past few days, include such musings as: “Support the Cure. My friends are bowling for boobs tonight in atlanta, strike!” and “Storms make trees take deeper roots.” Unfortunately, most of the tweets seem to be written by her assistant or something, and they revolve around contests and promotional things. Ah, Dolly. Always a businesswoman. So awesome.

So Dolly tweeted yesterday: “Aahhh chiropractor… Hurts so good you lug these around and see if your back don’t hurt!” To which I can only say, “God bless you, Dolly.” I’m not alone, either. Jessica Simpson reads Dolly’s Twitter too, and she responded with and “Amen, sister!” Aw… Dolly should take Jessica under her wing.

Funny enough, Us Weekly described this Twitter situation, and then used the article to remind us once again why so many of us call Jessica’s dad “Pervert Joe”:

Jessica Simpson’s breasts have long been the center of attention.

Her father Joe raised eyebrows when he praised her assets in a 2004 GQ interview.

“Jessica never tries to be sexy. She just is sexy. If you put her in a T-shirt or you put her in a bustier, she’s sexy in both,” he said. “She’s got double D’s! You can’t cover those suckers up!”

[From Us Weekly]

That goddamn quote gets me every time. Every time I grimace. Every time I wince. It’s just so disgusting. That quote might get put on Pervert Joe’s gravestone.

And since we’re talking about the Simpson family now, I thought I’d include this little piece about Ashlee. It’s from Fox News 411, and it’s in the same vein as yesterday’s stories about the “real reasons” Ashlee was dumped from Melrose Place. Yesterday’s theories included the “Heather Locklear pushed her off” theory and the “Ashlee sucks at everything” theory. Fox News’ theory is that Ashlee was fired because she was a diva. And because she sucked.

Ashlee Simpson’s diva behavior got her booted from the CW hit ‘Melrose Place’, a source close to one cast member tells Fox411.

“Ashlee was kicked off ‘Melrose Place’ because she was a total diva on set, late all the time, and deeply disliked by fellow cast members,” the insider spills. “It created a lot of discord among the cast.”

Another big problem, says the snitch? “She could barely act.”

(If you saw her episodes, you know this to be true.)

But not being able to act and being a diva hardly set Simpson apart from many of the venerable primetime soap’s stars, both current and past. The insider tells Fox411 it was the producer’s need to bring in one of those past stars that also hastened Simpson’s swan song.

The source says producers desperately wanted Heather Locklear to reprise her role, but couldn’t afford her salary demands without cutting someone.

“They basically trimmed the fat and made it possible for Heather to join the show,” says the snitch. “Heather is a much bigger name than Ashlee.”

[From Fox News 411]

Interesting… I could see it. Ashlee seems like a “everybody treat me like I’m the most special” kind of person. Probably because no one in her family treated her like she was special. Because her pervert father was too busy studying Jessica’s boobs. Cringe.

Here’s Dolly at the Tonys in June. Images thanks to WENN.com . Header is an older photo of Dolly and Jessica together.

After battling fly nets and enormous spiders in Uganda in the name of beauty (or The Price of Beauty), Jessica Simpson has returned to America. She commenced with making up for lost time by doing two big appearances over the weekend. The first was as the headliner for the annual Operation Smile Gala, held in Beverly Hills. Her outfit was a little sketchy for a gala – but I suspect Jessica was aiming for conservative and classic rather than her normal style, a buffet of T & A. Jessica gained some weight back, hasn’t she? It doesn’t really matter, I think she still looks great. Good gala hair, good gala makeup.

At the gala, Papa Joe talked up Jessica to Us Weekly - and as always, he probably did more harm than good. You know how Jessica looks a little heavier? Papa Joe says that’s because Jess went into a “fattening hut” in Uganda, because in Uganda, “fat is beautiful.” He also talks about Jessica’s valuable lessons learned about inner beauty:

As she travels around the world filming her upcoming reality show The Price of Beauty, Jessica Simpson – who underwent criticism for her weight earlier this year – is learning that “beauty starts within,” her father Joe tells Usmagazine.com.

“She’s always scrutinized by the world and [it's great] to watch her go to other countries and see women talk about what is beautiful there,” he told Us Friday at a gala in Beverly Hills for the international charity Operation Smile. “We were just in Uganda, and a beauty ambassador [there] knew Jessica’s total story about her weight and blah, blah, blah. [She said] to Jessica that it’s about who you are inside, which is the message of our show.”

Asked if he has given his daughter, 29, any advice on how to handle the weight issue, Joe told Us, “I don’t have to tell her anything anymore. She’s wise.”

He said he also brushes off any criticism aimed at Jessica or his other daughter Ashlee.

“The girls are wonderful kids who have so much to offer, and as a father, the greatest frustration in the world is that people are told who they are instead of knowing who they are,” he said. “So the hardest thing for me as a parent is to say that’s not who my child is; you don’t know the girl because she’s the same girl she’s always been. She’s with children in Uganda or children in Japan or Thailand — she has an open heart and loves these people. I think you’ll see that on our show. I think it’s the greatest show that women can experience because it’s all women all around the world talking about beauty and the message is always the same: It starts inside.”

What can viewers expect?

Jessica “becomes a Geisha in Japan,” Joe told Us. “In Uganda, we sat in a fattening hut because, in Uganda … fat is beautiful. So the bigger you are, the more beautiful you are. She was with a girl who had been in a hut preparing for her wedding for two months and 25 days on a 5,000 calorie-a-day diet.”

Next stop: Morocco.

“It’s going to be beautiful,” he said.

Jessica agreed, telling Us, “It’s going to be amazing … we’re leaving the day after tomorrow I think.”

[From Us Weekly]

Notice that even when Papa Joe is trying to make a larger point about both of his daughters, he always has to bring the conversation around to just Jessica? Yeah. Sometimes I really feel for Ashlee – it must suck for her in that family. Oh, and it was her 25th birthday on Saturday – she had a big party in Vegas. I can’t find any pictures of her dad at Ashlee’s birthday – but he was all over the Operation Smile gala.

Operation Smile has been one of Jessica’s causes for several years – I’m proud of her for sticking with it, even if she’s (maybe) not the most coherent advocate. I think her heart’s in it, though, and the organization does great work. According to its website, “Operation Smile volunteers have treated more than 130,000 children born with cleft lips, cleft palates and other facial deformities and the organization has a presence in 51 countries. In addition to contributing free medical treatment, Operation Smile trains local medical professionals in its partner countries and leaves behind crucial equipment to lay the groundwork for long-term self-sufficiency.” Good for Jessica!

Photo credit: Apega/WENN.com

People Magazine has a story up about how Jessica Simpson is “sad, mad and confused” following her split with Tony Romo. It’s not an interview with Jessica, the quotes are only from a “Simpson family friend” and a “source”. Considering it’s People, I’d say this is the sanctioned version of how Jessica is feeling. The “family friend” is probably Joe Simpson, for all I know.

Anyway, it turns out that Jessica was really “blindsided” by Tony, and she is now just laying low with her family. They also make a big deal about this whole idea that Jessica was just trying to be what she thought Tony wanted her to be – “the perfect mold of the perfect football girlfriend”. Yuck. This whole idea of girlfriend-perfection supposedly played on Jessica’s insecurities, which I tend to believe. People makes her sound just utterly devastated, so I do feel for my poor little dumb kitten. However, the “source” does get in a juicy body slam against Nick Lachey, saying that there is too much “bad blood” between Nick and Joe for Jessica and Nick to ever try to reconcile, which totally shoots US Weekly’s cover out of the water. And now I’m thinking People’s source really is Joe Simpson.

While Tony Romo is reveling in his renewed membership to the Singles-R-Us Club, Jessica Simpson is having a hard time coming to grips with being dumped a day before her 29th birthday.

“Jessica was really blindsided,” says a Simpson family friend. “She’s sad, mad, and confused. Her emotions are all over the place.”

Another source close to Simpson tells PEOPLE that “it’s been difficult lately” for the pair, who first started dating in November, 2007.

“Dating her comes along with her celebrity and press – that’s not easy for anyone,” says Simpson’s family friend. “But she and Tony seemingly had it figured out. They rolled with the punches and focused on each other. They just lost sight of that at the end.”

Since the sudden split, Simpson has been laying low. “She is holding up okay,” says the Simpson source. “She is with her family. They are – as always – very supportive of her.”

The one thing the family will not support: The thought of Simpson reconciling with her ex-husband Nick Lachey, who recently split from his girlfriend Vanessa Minnillo. “It won’t happen,” says a source. “They have no respect for him. Jessica has no respect for him. There is way too much bad blood between Nick and Joe for Jessica to even think about it.”

The Simpson clan, however, was upset to see Romo go. “Everyone really liked him,” says the Simpson family friend. Adds another source close to the Simpsons: “He wanted this perfect mold of the perfect football girlfriend. People don’t realize that Jessica has been worn down by Hollywood. She has insecurities and inner demons that she struggles with. She’s not some upbeat blond cheerleader that people want her to be.”

But Simpson is, if nothing else, strong. “She’s gone through heartache before,” says a source. “She wants someone who is on the same page that she is. If she has to move on for that, she will.”

[From People]

Don’t they make Jessica just sound miserable? If it was someone else, someone a bit smarter, I would think that this version was being put out to garner some sympathy, play the victim. But I totally by that Jessica is probably more devastated than this sanctioned version. Maybe Jessica, for her next dating escapade, should go for someone totally outside of the trappings of celebrity. No singers, no actors, no athletes. Just a nice church-going businessman or someone like that. You know who might be nice for her? Some young, upstart Texas politician. I could totally see Jessica as a political wife.

Jessica Simpson is shown performing on 3/8/09. Credit: WENN.com

Now that Lane Garrison is out of prison, what’s the first, most logical thing to do? Go to Jessica Simpson’s parents house for a party, naturally. That’s where most ex-cons go. Actually, it turns out that Jessica Simpson’s dad and Garrison go way back: Joe was Lane’s youth pastor when he was growing up in Texas.

Garrison served just half his 40 months sentence for felony vehicular manslaughter and driving under the influence. His car crash killed a 17-year-old boy and left two teenage girls injured. As a condition of his release, Garrison is spending the next five months in a rehab facility.

Hours after his release from prison and a gathering at Jessica Simpson’s parents’ house, a noticeably thinner Lane Garrison spoke exclusively to E! News as he arrived at the Los Angeles-area Tarzana Treatment Center to begin a five-month stint at the residential inpatient facility.

Wearing a baseball cap with the word “faith” printed on it, the former Prison Break star discussed his plans for the future. “I’m blessed to be alive,” said Garrison, who spent more than 19 months in prison altogether for a 2006 DUI crash that left one passenger dead. “I’m just worried about getting through treatment right now,” he said. Also, “I’m looking forward to getting on with my life and doing the right thing and helping people.”

During his incarceration, Garrison was a peer mentor for fellow inmates, a responsibility that requires a spotless behavior record while behind bars. And he had some famous friends waiting for him on the outside upon his release.

Sources tell E! News that, after being picked up from the California Correctional Institute, he was the guest of honor at a welcome-home reception at Simpson’s parents’ Encino home. Papa Joe Simpson was Garrison’s youth minister in their native Texas and Lane lived with the family for a time. Jessica was at the gathering today, but there was no sign of sister Ashlee. Garrison was at the Simpsons’ place from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., after which he went directly to the nearby Tarzana rehab center.

[From E! News]

I hope this guy works his butt off in rehab. He’s obviously got some serious demons. It seems like he handled this as well as he could. He gave an apology in court in which he seemed to be genuinely emotionally distraught, though obviously he’s an actor. But he took responsibility (at least publicly) for his behavior and has never tried to blame anyone else. He also reached settlements with the victims’ families. I’m by no means on the guy’s side nor do I have empathy for him – that’s for his victims. But I think so far he’s done as much as can be done in a situation like this. Now if Garrison is willing to work hard and really clean up in rehab – and stay that way – that will best demonstrate his remorse.

Here’s Lane checking into rehab yesterday. Images thanks to Pacific Coast News.