Back during the awards season, there were a couple of rumors floating around about Jessica Simpson and Oscar nominee Jeremy Renner. They ran into each other at a couple of parties, and some even claimed that he got Jess’s digits, although he later denied that specifically. Nothing really seemed to come out of it, other than a few people at the National Enquirer wondering aloud if Jeremy was/is gay. I’m not sure how “denying getting Jessica’s digits” = gay, but whatever. Anyway, Us Weekly is trying to start the Renner-Simpson rumor anew! They report (via Jezebel) this week that “Jessica Simpson and Jeremy Renner were seen entering the St. Regis hotel in D.C. at 2:35 am, ‘30 seconds apart.’ Jessica greeted and took pictures with fans while Jeremy waited just out of sight. Then they took an elevator upstairs.” Eh. NOW I think he’s gay.

In any case, that possible hookup with Jeremy didn’t stop Jessica from having an extremely awkward run-in with her ex, Tony Romo and his new girlfriend while all three of them were in Washington. Us Weekly reports that the three Texans chatted “for about five minutes” at a party at the French Embassy. Jessica sounds like she handled herself well, considering:

Awkward! Jessica Simpson encountered her ex Tony Romo — and his current girlfriend, Candice Crawford — at Saturday’s Bloomberg/Vanity Fair afterparty for the White House Association dinner.

During the fete, held at the French Ambassador’s residence in Washington, D.C., Simpson, Romo and Crawford chatted for about five minutes on the balcony.

A witness tells UsMagazine.com that the trio’s chat was “tense.”

Adds another observer: “You could tell they were uncomfortable.”

“It wasn’t awkward,” another source counters. “Candice didn’t say much. Jessica and Tony are still friends and talk. It was the first time Jessica met Candice.”

After over a year-and-a-half of dating, Dallas Cowboys player Romo, 30, dumped Simpson last July on the eve of her 29th birthday. He and Simpson-lookalike Crawford — Chace Crawford’s 23-year-old little sis — began dating last fall.

But Simpson may have a new love in her life. Earlier in the evening, the Price of Beauty star told Us, “I have some [romantic] situations that I am feeling out.”

Indeed: the new Us Weekly reports of Simpson’s on-the-downlow romance with The Hurt Locker’s Jeremy Renner. Find out about their top-secret tryst in D.C. in the new issue, on newsstands today!

[From Us Weekly]

Well, if it’s the first time she’s met Candice, I could see how it could be awkward. I mean, that’s never comfortable, and Tony did dump Jessica on her birthday and then took up with Candice two seconds later. Hopefully, Jess turned to Candice at one point and told her, “He’ll screw around on you too, just watch.” Oh, and Candice doesn’t really look like Jessica either. Sure, they’re both toothy blondes, but Candice doesn’t seem as over-the-top, you know? Jessica has got the big hair, the big boobs, the low-cut tops. Candice seems a bit classier.

Here’s Candice, Tony and Candice’s brother Chace. Also, an old-school photo of Jessica and Tony: