Nick Lachey isn’t happy about Jessica Simpson’s book: ‘I have not read a single word’

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As I kept saying, I loved all of the excerpts from Jessica Simpson’s memoir, Open Book. She spilled some tea about John Mayer, about addiction, and about her first husband Nick Lachey. From what I read, Jessica was very measured about Lachey, which is interesting for a lot of reasons. Nick and Jessica fell apart and there was drama there for years, drama about infidelity and drama about money. I remember that Jessica was particularly mad about how much money Nick walked away with in the divorce, but that the money issue was basically bad management on her dad’s part. Anyway, it’s been about 14-15 years since they split. Water under the bridge, right? Nick and Jessica clearly don’t speak and that’s fine, and she was respectful of his marriage in her book and all of that. But… Nick still doesn’t want anything to do with it:

A hard pass. Nick Lachey isn’t picking up a copy of his ex-wife Jessica Simpson’s new book anytime soon. The singer, 46, paused and adjusted his glasses before answering a question about the candid tell-all at Michael Rubin’s Fanatics Super Bowl Party at Lowes Miami Beach Hotel on Saturday, February 1.

“Well, no, I have not read a single word,” he told Us Weekly exclusively before referring to his wife of eight years, Vanessa Lachey. “Both of us have not read the book, and no, she did not reach out before it was published.”

Nick was married to Simpson, 39, for four years before their divorce was finalized in 2006. The pair costarred in the reality TV series Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica before going their separate ways.

[From Us Weekly]

That sounded…terse. Maybe it really isn’t water under the bridge. Maybe Nick and Jessica still have a lot of negative energy for each other, or he’s the one being negative. I don’t know. But I wish he would have laughed it off, you know? I felt similarly about Ashton Kutcher’s reaction to Demi Moore’s memoir – Ashton was a douche about it and thus, proved Demi’s point that Ashton sucks. And in Nick’s case, Jessica didn’t even spill any major tea – she was truly measured and thoughtful about how she discussed him and their marriage. Hmmm.

Okay, after I wrote all of the above stuff, I read this story where Jessica describes the last time she slept with Nick and it’s so intimate and private, it made me cringe. I get it. Nick is tired of it. I don’t blame him!

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51 Responses to “Nick Lachey isn’t happy about Jessica Simpson’s book: ‘I have not read a single word’”

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  1. Mrs. Peel says:

    Sadly, some people can’t help but live in the past.

  2. Grant says:

    Well, Nick leveraged his divorce from Jessica to his benefit and channeled his inner JT by recording a whole flop album at the time basically blaming her for their split (“What’s Left of Me”), so I don’t feel that much sympathy for him.

    • Mellie says:

      Plus he got a $hit ton of money that he didn’t deserve or earn…..

      • Ali says:

        Jessica earned most of the money just like jeff Bezos. Any spouse gets what they deserve in a divorce.

      • Murphy says:

        She wouldn’t have gotten all that money without Newlyweds. What’ was hers was his at that point.

      • SKF says:

        My understanding was that when they got married, Nick was by far the more famous one and had way more money than her. Her father wouldn’t let Nick marry her unless there was no pre-nup so that if anything went wrong she could walk away with a big chunk of Nick’s change. Nick helped dig her out of debt. Then the tables turned. Jessica became the higher earner (due to being spoiled, dumb and beautiful with a funny edge), and he walked away with a big chunk of her change. It’s actually poetic justice if you think about it!

    • Tiffany says:

      Jessica went into that marriage with a ton of debt that Nick helped her pay off. She was already 250k in the hole at the time on top of the mortgage on their home and her spending habits. So yeah……let’s not pretend that Jessica was just a victim of California laws.

    • holly hobby says:

      Yeah I remember reading Papa Joe saying no prenup. So in the end that deal bit them in the ass and Nick came off with $$$$. Nothing against him. He demanded a prenup and Jess and Joe demurred so here we are.

  3. mar says:

    Jessica was so pretty. Hopeful she will continue to take great care of herself

  4. StormsMama says:

    He has kids now. With Vanessa. They have a family. So….he doesn’t feel like looking back at time in his life when they didn’t exist. I don’t blame him.
    But what he should’ve said was “Vanessa and I wish her all the best”

    • HK9 says:

      Exactly. Some people don’t know how that they can choose an elegant solution to get through these situations.

    • Kosmos says:

      I don’t see the point of going into detail about their past relationship. Both of them have moved on and are happy with their current partners, so it’s silly to stir the pot and bring up old details about sex and all. I’m sure Nick and his wife don’t appreciate it. Jessica is happy now, too, and no one is faulting her for their split, are they? Let the past be the past. Sometimes there is no reason to talk to the world about your past love life. Even if she had a beef back then with Nick, who in the heck wants to go back there and dredge up past issues? Move on, Jessca, and leave him alone.

  5. Ali says:

    Good for him.

    Nick has moved on so why should he acknowledge Jessica’s book.

  6. Murphy says:

    He just doesn’t want to piss off his wife,

  7. lucy2 says:

    Here’s what he said on the Today Show, which doesn’t sound tense at all. From a Pajiba article:

    “I’ll be honest, I obviously haven’t read the book, so I don’t know what she said or what she revealed there,” Lachey said. “But certainly happy for her in her life and I know she is happy for us. There is definitely a mutual respect there.”

    “Obviously it was a long time ago and we’ve all moved on,” he added of his current wife and Simpson’s husband, Eric Johnson.

    • S says:

      That doesn’t sound tense, but I can’t imagine that Page Six story linked above, where Jessica describes sleeping with Nick well AFTER he met his current wife, went down well in the Lachey household.

      It’s her story as much as his, so hard to argue Simpson doesn’t have the right to share it, but does feel like some moments shouldn’t be monetized.

      • lucy2 says:

        Yeah that Page Six story hit after the Today Show appearance, so good point, that may make things a little tense!

    • Sarah says:

      Thanks for adding this. Context and dimension matters.

  8. Valiantly Varnished says:

    She left him if you will recall. Not the other way around. And I think how that went down probably plays a huge part in how he feels about her. And after reading that excerpt- yikes. This is why tell-alls make me cringe. I get that people have a right to tell their story but it’s by nature a one-sided account that doesn’t allow the other people involved the space to do the same.

    • Digital Unicorn says:

      I’ve always gotten the sense that she regretted their marriage not working out and that she would have like to have stayed married to him. IIRC her father didn’t like Nick much.

      • Diana B says:

        Her book says otherwise. She basically checked out of the relationship and emotionally cheated with Jhonny Knoxville.

      • Valiantly Varnished says:

        Ive always felt the exact opposite. I think she married him too young and didn’t know who she was and then felt trapped. And her book basically confirms that. She got married because that was what was expect of her but Nick wasn’t a great love. I think under normal circumstances that relationship would have just fizzled out naturally before they ever made it to the altar

      • holly hobby says:

        I guess her book didn’t mention that she slept with Knoxville sidekick Bam Magera either. That was the big story during their split. That whole thing got plastered on Us Weekly.

  9. EbonyS says:

    WOOF.

    She watched a documentary of the making of his album and the video he did with the person who would eventually become his wife.

    If Vanessa is reading this, I’d be pissed. Especially since they legit started dating right around she was the “girl” in his video.

    I don’t blame Nick for being terse. But I also don’t blame Jessica for talking about her experiences.

  10. Guest with Cat says:

    From what I remember, he was never particularly nice to her or about her. He always seemed to carry an edge of bitterness. So this is no surprise. And to be fair, I would hate to be famous and have an ex mention me in a book, let alone describe personal anecdotes and sexual moments in detail. I’m not particularly fond of him but I can’t blame him for being even a little salty. I consider it “generalized discomfort” over trying to have a private life while being a public figure.

    • Melissa says:

      THIS. I always thought he was incredibly short and awful with her. I hated him on the show. I hated him after. Idk?

  11. Astrid says:

    I wouldn’t read a book that my ex wrote!

  12. Mindy_Dopple says:

    Did anyone see the video of Vanessa and Nick with Robin and they denial that they sent her a gift!? It was sooo petty!

    • LA says:

      @Mindy I was coming here to mention this. Between that video and these comments…I’m getting the vibe that HE is the one not over it, and that Vanessa knows and hates that.

      • Julie says:

        Thank GOD someone else has been wondering this too! I was shocked their present debacle wasn’t part of this article. I was shocked about how poorly Vanessa handled that PR. You could tell Hoda was surprised by their negative reaction; she clearly thought it was a nice anecdote and it quickly turned into Vanessa hounding her to make sure America knew she would NEVER send Jessica a present. It was silly gossip perfection

      • Smalltown Girl says:

        I saw that and I feel like Nick sent the gift and Vanessa didn’t and it is still a sore point. Someone in another group linked to the 2012 story about it, how it was a cookie bouquet.

    • JBones says:

      Feeling spicy today; as this is a safe space for gossip, I’m going to let it rip….

      My theory (s): I) Nick sent the baby gift without discussion or revelation, hence the tense and awkward response from his surprised wife
      II) He’s recently caught wind of Jessica’s description of their 2006, post divorce, hook up. IF he cheated on Vanessa with Jessica in 2006, this kiss n tell stuff might make him especially crusty.

      This is all speculation. Still, I feel bad for Nick and Vanessa.

  13. Mabs A'Mabbin says:

    When was the last time he did read a single word I wonder? 😏

  14. Scal says:

    What is he supposed to say about someone he split up with nearly 15 years ago? Why would she need to reach out? Why would he need to read it? From what I read he was gracious about saying he’s happy for her and he knows she’s happy for them-what else is there?

    Also the reason he got more money is when they got married Papa Joe insisted no prenup as Nick was the bigger star and money maker when they got married. Nick asked for a prenup. Dad wanted that cash for his kid if it didn’t work out as he thought the trend of Nick being the big star would continue. But by the time they split Jess was the bigger star and so it came back to bite them in the butt.

  15. Notsoanonymous says:

    I have a feeling Vanessa had no idea that this had happened, and that she was probably already sleeping with Nick at the time he slept with Jess. He’s deep into his marriage and had to explain it.

    • S says:

      Yeah, exactly what I said above. This isn’t going to breakdown a longterm marriage, but that would really hurt to find out, kind of tainting your own love story. (And everyone sees their own love story through rose colored glasses, not just celebs.)

      I admit I feel badly for Vanessa, having this out there has got to suck. Bad enough when the thing most people know about your husband is that he was once married to someone else. Kind of tacky and self-centered of Jessica to either not know, or not care, that this would be wounding. As normal as such goodbye bones are in divorces, doubt Simpson would have put it out there if she’d already been seeing her own current husband at the time.

  16. Severine says:

    Hello! If he did not read the book, how could he possibly know what was written? Unless, of course, his friends told him about the parts where she referenced her relationship and marriage to him, which is quite close to “Yes, I read the book and I know what she said in it.”

  17. locamg says:

    In the middle of the book, and I have obsessively read nearly all the Nick-Jessica coverage. I think he was pretty respectful and diplomatic, and Jessica has been respectful as well. That’s how I’m reading all of this though.

  18. Veronica S. says:

    I mean…I wouldn’t want to revisit that, either, especially if it wasn’t amicable. She has a right to talk about it, but that stuff often dredges up a lot of unhappy emotions that aren’t really so well buried as much as distant enough as to feel like they can’t touch us anymore. I don’t find his comments too offputting. He’s human. And celebrity gossip interviewers purposefully dig to get a reaction.

  19. Sass says:

    Vanessa is a couple years older than me. We never met but we had mutual friends. I still remember how big a deal it was when she won Miss Teen USA.

  20. Velvet Elvis says:

    I always thought that Nick seemed like a nice guy and I still believe that. Jessica became a big star from their reality show, which they did together, so he totally deserved that money. I think she was just too young and immature to be married, and then when super stardom hit they became different people. That was a long time ago. They’re both long over each other. Nick is probably sick of being asked about Jessica.

  21. Starkille says:

    Who??

    She was under no obligation to reach out to him about her writing. He sound like he is still butt hurt, almost two decades later.

  22. sassbr says:

    I’m still going to defend Ashton Kutcher about Demi’s memoir. I’m not a Kutcher fan by any means but she trashed the hell out of him in that memoir, basically calling him emotionally abusive (even though he was a 25-year-old married to a destructive addict who expected him to baby her constantly,) and he never said a word and just directed people toward his charity and political work. Unlike Nick Lachey, who recorded a whole album trashing his ex, he has only said nice things about Demi Moore in public. Totally different situation where Jessica Simpson wrote a very measured and fair account of her first marriage where she put the blame on infidelity on both parties.

    • Smalltown Girl says:

      I agree and I said at the time, people would have seen the Ashton and Demi situation different if Demi had been the man.

    • Valiantly Varnished says:

      I still defend Kutcher too – despite being told that I was anti-feminist and was harboring internalized misogyny for doing so. Which I found amusing because I actually can’t stans Kutcher. But I felt that Demi’s book was shady AF. It painted her as a victim DESPITE the one who was 20 years older than her partner. If the roles had been reversed people would have been trashing Ashton.

      • sassbr says:

        Exactly how I felt. Her book honestly smacked of being a dry drunk to me. She maybe be literally sober but not truly if that self-victimizing attitude is anything to go by.

        Things I side-eye Kutcher for: being friends with Danny Masterson, that awful Netflix sitcom that pushed conservative values

        Things I don’t: not understanding how to help his drug-addicted girlfriend-turned-wife who was 15 years older.

  23. Amelie says:

    He had already given a statement during The Today Show and my guess is he probably doesn’t want to talk about it anymore. He was very nice in his comments and wished her well. His comments US Weekly don’t sound terse, just the truth. He didn’t read the book and Jessica did not reach out to him before the book was published. Tone gets lost in print, don’t forget. So my guess is he is just telling the truth and doesn’t want to be asked about it anymore.

    The breakdown of their marriage isn’t rocket science. Jess was ridiculously young and immature when they got married. Couple that with the reality show, their marriage became a storyline and it became impossible to tell fact from fiction with the lines of reality blurring. It’s not a surprise they got divorced, it must have been confusing for the both of them.

  24. mash says:

    ladies when we do this whole…. let me dwell on the past (with a book, pointed song, etc. of publish content) and rehatch-ish in the name healing… idc what noveau feminism tint we try to put on it… it comes off as SAD AF.

    Selena, Jessica, Demi, etc. would do well to have a good wine and popcorn (or ice-cream/soda and popcorn) party with some girls they can trust and talk the dog-ish about their ex-friends-romantic partner-sexpartners-etc. When i see stuff like this i just shake my head….like GIRL THEY DONE MOVED ON…NO ONE CARES

    if she felt so (let me get the record straight) she should have confirmed at that time instead of issuing denials, amicable “we love each other dearly, best friends still” crap, and or the whole no comment

    That being said I cannot wait for taylor’s TRUTH of swiftgron and kaylor in about 6-20 years

  25. SM says:

    I get that one can be irritated when intimate history is brought up, especially when you have moved on for a quite a long time. And these details from Jess about sleeping with him rub the wrong way but then it is a question about life stories. If you decide to write a book about your own experience offering it to the world, you do have to stick to the memory of the events and revel intimate and ugly things from your life. Otherwise it is a dishonest fiction. If anything that story about her sleeping with him revels she was confused and lost more than anything else.
    I also think Nick may be a bit salty because people like me know him only as Jessica Simpson’s first husband. He is getting this attention only because Jessica wrote a book.