I’ve spent a lot of time hatin’ on Jessica Simpson’s fiancé Eric Johnson. To be fair, Eric really doesn’t DO that much. He plays golf. He takes Jessica out to eat. He keeps getting her pregnant. He tries to breathe through his mouth when she drops one of her nuclear farts. Rinse and repeat. But I have come around on Eric slightly. Jessica seems very happy with him, he seems like a hands-on father and he does seem to genuinely love Jessica (and her bank account). Perhaps it’s possible that Jessica and Eric are perfect complements to each other? Perhaps. I think it helps that Jessica looks at Eric and she genuinely thinks, “Wow, I scored such an amazing guy!” Which might explain why SHE gave HIM a push present after SHE gave birth to their son Ace Knute:
Jessica Simpson may have done all the work while giving birth to son Ace Knute on June 30, but it was her baby daddy Eric Johnson who got the push present! While Eric gave Jessica flowers after welcoming their second child, Jessica decided to splurge on her fiancé with an 18K gold Panerai watch and a custom-made leather biker jacket by John Varvatos. Since Jessica is pals with designer John, she got the jacket for cost, but insiders say she ended up dropping $42,000 on the watch – which she had engraved with the special message “Today, tomorrow, forever yours.”
[From Star Magazine, print edition]
Only Jessica would go all-out on a push present for her baby-daddy when he only got her flowers! I mean, I know many of you hate the idea of “push presents” or maybe you just hate the term “push presents”. But it comes from a culturally historical place – it’s been very common for centuries for the new father to give his wife (or as they said in the olden days, “baby-mama”) something significant to mark the occasion of the birth of a child. There’s no real need to give the father something special… you just gave him a baby, you know? You pushed that sucker out after carrying the kid for nine months. You deserve a piece of jewelry. HE does not.
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.
Nice presents…. Does anyone think she will ever marry him though?
I didn’t know they were not married!!
What the hell is she thinking!
not marrying him is probably the smartest thing she’s ever done. If he leaves her he won’t get any alimony and who do you think a judge is going to give custody to a woman running a $600,000,000.00 company or the unemployed father?
@testington
Oh dang, I actually never thought of it that way. secretly smart Jessica strikes again.
@Testington, who wrote: “not marrying him is probably the smartest thing she’s ever done. If he leaves her he won’t get any alimony and who do you think a judge is going to give custody to a woman running a $600,000,000.00 company or the unemployed father?”
That didn’t help Halle Berry any, did it?
Her relationship just makes me sad.
I have a friend who is always trying to sell me (and, probably herself) on the idea that her crappy husband is an awesome guy – for example, he gets something rubbish free at work and brings it home, and she calls me, delighted, because in her head, he bought her a gift because he appreciates her. Same thing here. Simpson probably thinks he’s so devoted because he drove her to the hospital.
Same here.
there is something so off and creepy about him. you can see it in his eyes. I dont trust his intentions with her at all and Im not even a fan of hers or anything. I actually forgot she had another baby until I read this. I started ignoring her stuff b/c it was always about her weight or what products she was shilling.
I have friend who does similar stuff. She recently bought and had delivered to her office flowers for her anniversary. Then posted all over Facebook what a wonderful husband she has. Ugh
Aww. I hope she is finally able to see her worth some day.
Me too, honestly.
I think it’s sweet for a man to give his wife a gift to commemorate the birth of a child. I just loathe the expression “push present.” Everything in our society seems reduced to its basest, most vulgar level.
Of course, I’m the one hanging out on a celebrity website so I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised or complain, yet that does not seem to stop me.
If no one complained, this would be a really boring site xD
I have to confess, I’d never even heard of the term ‘push present’ until recently. I don’t care for it myself.
And you are absolutely right about society being at it’s most vulgar level, but that’s why I love coming to this site. The world is so f****d up right now, and this is a diversion from all of that. A guilty pleasure I guess. Does it really matter what most of these narcissistic, vapid celebs do with themselves? What they wear? Who they sleep with? No. But it makes me forget about the awful things I read about elsewhere. Between this site and Dlisted, I get some of the best laughs of the day from the posts and the comments.
You nailed it, @Nicolette. Great escapism is nothing to sneeze at.
I don’t like him. Every time I look at him or read articles about him, I think, K-Fed mark 2.
Not that I’m insulting anyone who thinks otherwise, but…For *me*, I’d think the child is the perfect push present. The term bothers me, too… It does seem so ‘base’… When they could’ve just called it a ‘birth day’ present.
I wouldn’t be offended if my partner gave me a present after I pushed a kid out of my hoo-ha. In fact, I would probably be confused as to why he is giving me a present…..my mom would tell him now he has to get me something good everytime I give birth.
All joking aside, I think it is a good thing to get your woman something after giving birth. IT doesn’t have to be expensive; it could be something like getting her her favorite type of trashy romance novels, or the biggest chocolate doughnut you can find. I don’t know. I think I’d want a coke and some McDonald fries as soon as I could after giving birth.
I wanted a huge meal – mainly a great big burger after I had my first child. I think it’s great if they get the mother of their child a present. Just don’t like the term “push present” – if you take it at it’s basic meaning, not all women “push” out the baby and men definitely don’t. Wish there was a different phrase. It’s like the phrases: baby momma and baby daddy – they just grate on me.
I just wanted a nap. Heck, I still do.
I did not know there was historical context for a gift after birth so I will rethink my opinions on that.
I wanted chili cheese dogs and fries from Wienerschnitzel (which was conveniently right down the street from the hospital) and fruit. Lots of fruit.
(I’d been in labour for over 36 hours, had an ER C-section, was nursing, and FAMISHED!)
I wanted a big mac
I dislike both the term and the idea. If someone wants to get something special to commemorate that’s one thing, but it’s sort of expected now, which takes away from it. Besides, shouldn’t the baby be enough of a gift for both parents?
If she wants to spend like that on him, it’s her money, but I just hope it doesn’t end badly someday.
I don´t like the idea and the term push present. If we assume it´s a planned baby, then both partners make the joint decision to become parents – so why do you need gift for that? Also, why has everything about pregnancy and giving birth to be so special. Yeah, your life is changing and it´s a big event but millions of women did it before and millions will do it after you.
I think it´s great when the father is extra attentive but I don´t see why giving birth has to be materialized like that. But well for celebs it´s just another excuse to spend money
I think in her mind this makes sense…he probably pushed her into the delivery room..thus earning his push present.
Oh dear. For all her money she really is quite pathetic and insecure isn’t she?
I don’t see anything wrong with the woman giving the dad a push present. No he didn’t push but that doesn’t mean he didn’t do anything.
With the great risk to be vulgar..hm, that Dad did actually do the initial push…so …
Thats chump change to her she’s worth millions its like me spending 100 on a gift.
I’ll be honest I like to read celeb gossip but there are certain mags and sites which I wish we didn’t even bother with and Star is one of them. It’s not worth analyzing a story you know isn’t true just because of the source. Ok magazine is another. JMO
Does this dude even have a job? Or does he just follow her around and carry her bags? I wouldn’t care if a dude made less than me (especially when you make her kind of money), but he’s got to be doing SOMETHING. Very few women want a lazy, sorry-ass man (as my momma says to me ALL THE TIME), except, apparently, Jessica. Why do so many women go for dudes who don’t work and don’t want to? Or do as little as possible to get their gov’t cheese.
And if the genders were reversed no one would bat an eye at a woman being financially supported by her man.
I think as a general rule of thumb that’s true, especially as (from what I’ve seen) women do a LOT at home, not even including going to work. But I also think that, like most things pertaining to women, that’s it’s a two edged sword. If they do stay home and are supported by their partner, then they’re bashed for not being able to support themselves. If they do work, then there’s a whole ‘nother can of worms opened.
It just seems to me that a lot of emphasis is put on everyone getting good jobs, having x amount of things-car, house,etc before you settle down and get married or start having kids. Or only getting with someone who makes x amount….which technically isn’t a bad thing, but it could become one.
But, I really don’t think he does anything but mess around and wait on Jessica hand and foot….if she wants that, cool for her.
Thank you! I hate how it’s normal, or even at times encouraged, for women to be stay at home parents, but when the shoe is on the other foot, the stay-at-home dad gets called a layabout or KFed. It’s really disgusting.
Maybe he is a stay at home dad.
At first I thought he was lazy and living off of her. But now I realize if the roles were reversed and she was the one staying home no one would give it a second thought. Why should it be a double standard? He does seem like a good dad too. She makes so much money it’s not worth it for him to work anyway.
But she needs an iron clad prenup if she marries him.
@Siobhan
I think Jessica said in an interview recently that he is the stay-at-home dad and she works? And they have a nanny/nannies as well (SAH dads prob need some female advice 😄)
I think a push present is a sweet idea if it is something nice the dad wants to do as a thank-you for carrying and delivering the child, but I would think it would be tacky for a woman to *expect* such a gift.
Lastly: Maybe it was close to Eric’s birthday or something rather than being a push present? I’m just wondering.
I get this- when we had our baby, and I was awash in extra weight, a breast pump and nipple cream, any and every bodily fluid a baby can muster, and still recovering from my c-section, my husband was awesome. I was so grateful to have someone who was hands on, and when I was up, he was up. It should be the norm, but it isn’t, and I appreciated having an equal partner so much. It also gave me a new, huge respect for single mothers. So anyway, if I could have afforded it, I would have gotten him a great watch or season tickets to some sports team or something. Just to let him know that he was appreciated and to thank him for helping b/c a lot of dads (side eye to you, KANYE) don’t help much.
I’m sorry I don’t hate “push presents”.
I love jewelery and am happy to get a memorable one such occasions. I’ve never pondered that much over the name either. It’s just a term.
I think of some friends who had difficult pregnancies and were not “glowing” but grunting a lot, had to lay in bed for months, take medications and whatnot and did everything to have healthy babies. It’s a long ordeal sometimes and a rock that you can pawn if you need is just fine I think.
Perhaps she got him a gift because she knows he is a great dad, and she wanted to show her appreciation for that. Either way, it’s awesome. Yes, women do birth the babies, but I hate the idea that “push presents” (and that’s a terrible term, btw) are restricted to moms only.
Who is against push presents? I cannot wait to push out a baby and get a nice piece of jewelry for it 🙂
I don’t like push presents but I was touched by this for some reason…not sure why but something about it struck me as sweet.
Maybe she’s that thrilled over her new baby and just wanted to get Eric something nice within her substantial means.
Maybe she’s jut desperate.
Here’s my deep dark secret (deep and dark for this website anyway): If I could afford to quit my job and spend my days doing things I love, spending time with my family, traveling, taking up new hobbies, I would in a heartbeat.
I do not define myself by my job. I do not enjoy it, it does not fulfill me, I do not find my happiness in it. I do it for the money. If I didn’t need the money, I wouldn’t want a job.
Does that make me lazy and worthless? Maybe you guys think so, but I personally don’t see it that way. I am just a person who finds her happiness in parts of her life other than her career or work. Everyone finds joy in different things. Just because a lot of people here seem to find joy in their job, doesn’t mean that’s the only acceptable life defining detail.
Maybe Eric find joy in his fiance and children and his family judges him on being a good father. Who knows, but if they all find happiness in their situation, leave them alone.
Two valid points.
1) I and most people given the resources wouldn’t work at our current jobs, or in my case I’d go part time.
2) They don’t need him to work and if they are happy why worry over it.
He’s a “life coach” now. He was a football player before, perhaps he has investments to fund him.
Jessica is actually a good business woman, she won’t let him take her to the cleaners.
I agree with you guys but am stunned that Jessica’s boyfriend is a life coach. How can you be a life coach when you have accomplished absolutely nothing. Does he teach Gold-dogging 101 or something? I don’t get it.
Agree with both Rachel and JL. I still work and will continue. However, like a lot of people; should a huge sum of money/inheritance come my way I think both me and hubby could easily stay home. Read, do other things than work for the paycheck 🙂 BTW we have both worked a long time already 🙂
Who exactly is labeling this a push present? Is it just the media, or did Jessica say this? I would imagine she is constantly showering him with gifts, not just now.
Whatever he does for her is working. Some women don’t need to respect what a man does employment-wise. Being good to her and now being a good dad seems to be enough for her.
Just reverse the genders. Some man, with more money than God, has a wife/fiancee, who stays at home caring for their babies instead of working, while he showers her with expensive gifts. Outraged yet? Is she “lazy”?
This is the same issue I had with people calling out NPH’s husband for being a stay at home dad. Why is it considered proper, even admirable, for a mother to do, but a father staying at home is lazy? WTF?
I love this post. Spot on.
When they got together, did he always have his own thing going on, but then when the kids came, he decided he would be a full time dad? From previous posts on him, I always got the impression that he just hung around Jessica, worked very little, if at all-especially when they got together.
If he isn’t like that, then I apologize, but I always got the idea that he was just a lazy dude who found his sugar mama-my cousin’s patron saint. He wishes he could be with Jessica.
@ fabgrrl
I agree. If the roles were reversed, no one would bat an eye. As someone who works 50-60 hours a week, sometimes I joke about needing a wife. It would be nice to have someone to take care of the stuff I can’t because I’m always working. If it works for Jessica, I say let it be.
Alpha men often have women who stay at home while they are working. JLo and Jessica I consider alpha females, they bring in the dough. they might not work tons of hours but they have the money to outsource the things they need done. if you think of it that way, it’s not as offensive, I don’t think. And I truly think Jessica’s guy loves her and it’s a shame people assume he’s a gold-digger.
She looked really beautiful during this pregnancy. It’s nice that she was healthier this time because it’ll be easier for her now to lose the weight.
If this were a guy lavishing gifts to a woman, this wouldn’t make news. She is a smart girl & no one could take advantage of her. They are in love, she’s happy, beautiful babies.. what else is there? I love her & wish her nothing but happiness.
So let’s review….
All those mothers working / with nannies…Beckham, Jessica, Trump, KK, on and on the list goes get slaughtered for not enough time and care with the kids.
So now we apparently have a stay at home dad, a happy mother, smiling (adorable) kids and the guy is a lazy, sorry SOB?
He gets a gift, well within her pocket change, for the birth of their child and he’s slime? Is it the gift or is it that most of us can’t afford to give THAT gift? Any mothers ever looked deep into the daddies eyes and thanked them for such a wonder? Anyone ever wished they could get ‘daddy’ a really nice appreciation gift?
You know if she’d bought the nanny a nice watch for helping we’d all be saying how nice and how good of her.
I think it’s silly for a grown-ass woman to get a “push present” for having a child that, hopefully, she wanted. So you can imagine what I think of a grown-ass man getting one.
+100
She’s marrying her bellboy?
I like the idea of a push present and I don’t mind the name…..I think the issue lies in the fact that’s it’s been glamorized by Hollyweird to be this showy expensive thing when it really should be a meaningful token of love, respect and honor from your SO. I wanted a push present from my hubby when I had my son but alas. I have a wonderful hubby but when it comes to romantic gestures, it’s just not him lol. He got me tire in a can for my bday because he knew I had used my last can :-/
I want to like Jessica Simpson but she comes off as very simple and dull when I don’t think she is. I think she acts that way because that’s how she gets the most attention. It’s like grown women who talk in baby voice (yeah I’m talk about you Kim Kardashian). It’s creepy and unnecessary.
Ok I’m done preaching.
On a side note my husband now knows tire in a can is not an acceptable birthday present :-p
When I had our only child, my husband was driving a Jeep with a lift kit (it was semi-high off the ground).
So before he was to pick us up from the hospital to being us home (me and the baby), he rented a four door sedan. I was confused at first as to where the car came from, but he said after watching me labor for 30 hours and give birth to a 9 pound baby with no drugs, there was no way he’d allow me to try to climb in that Jeep, even two days later.
That was my “present” and I thought it was very thoughtful. His present was his awesome daughter, who is now 18. 🙂
That was so thoughtful and reasonable. Clearly you’re not some girl-woman who has been spoiled as Daddy’s little princess and expects to be gifted for producing children. LOL. You husband sounds great and it seems you have a lovely family.
No one will ever convince me he is with her for any other reason than she is filthy rich. And I don’t think she cares. So, if it works for them, that’s great. Personally, I think they are both pathetic for different reasons.
Agree 100%.
Disagree 100%
Anyone who says they dont want a push present is a liar/and or jealous.
You forgot fat and ugly. 😉
A present would be nice, but I’d rather have the $42, 000!
If she got HIM a push present after SHE just went through the labor and delivery, she’s an even bigger fool then I thought she was. Smh.
F*ck her entitlement and conspicuous consumption.
Push presents sounds like a good idea to me. After carrying a baby for 9 months I would have loved getting a gift.
I’m curious about this culturally historical significance? I had never heard that term until I was 30 years old and a woman from my Lamaze class came over with her baby for a new-mom date. She had on a gorgeous diamond horse shoe necklace. I had been admiring and wanting one, myself, and when I complimented her she told me it was her “push present.” I just stared blankly at her. My father is an historian and my mother had three kids…how had I never heard of this? To be honest, I thought it was something she had invented!
I wonder if it has something to do with arranged marriages where the man needed a male heir so if the wife “did her duty” and birthed a son than she was awarded accordingly. Not sure. I will have to google this as soon as I get near a computer and not this stupid iPhone.
That reminds me of when in “The Duchess” when Georgiana FINALLY gives birth to a son, she got a check from the Duke. So maybe that’s where it came from?
I don’t get what’s offensive about “push present”….I don’t think it should be expected, but I think it’s a nice gesture in today’s world. And it’s not like it has to be jewelry. I think I would want either a coke or a chocolate milkshake with fries.
She carried the baby for nine months plus the baby fat, risked her life in giving birth,gives the kid his name and gives him an expensive gift afterall for what…why
I didn’t get a push present and, to be completely honest, I was quite disappointed.
I was too!! I didn’t even get flowers. 🙁
Me three. Nada.
Total agreement with all the people asking about role reversal. I do think people question what he does. I mean, neither him or Jess, are most likely doing all the heavy lifting with the babies due to their finances so I don’t think either could ever be labeled ‘Stay At Home Parent’.
And the push present thing. The term isn’t the greatest, I don’t think it should be expected or picked out by the momma, but if you get one, lovely and fantastic 🙂 I have 2 boys and my husband got me a push present for each- a David Yurman charm in the baby’s birthstone. Something I can wear and always think of the kids.
Is she kidding with that first outfit?? A MiuMiu? What is she, 75 and living on Palm Beach???
I thought Eric Johnson was vegan. Why would she give him a leather watch?
is he really vegan? if he were I would actually like a him just a tad
These people live on another planet. If I had a spare $42K I wouldn’t be buying a watch!
I’ve got mixed feelings about Jess. Kudos to her being so wealthy. Seems to be needy & to have a man. Eric has found his gravy train. If they’re happy that’s great. Pleased to not see her so much in the media 2nd time around being pregnant. Is she still contracted to WW?
Can’t stand the terms “push present”, “baby mama”, “baby daddy” and “jump off”.
Giving a watch as a gift is so tacky. He is glued to his iPhone which has a clock on it. When people with money spend crazy cash I. Watches and cars I always think they are lowlifes thinking money will buy them class.
I wish someone would ask her what her fiancé does for a living. I am dying to know, and it’s never mentioned.
An unemployed former footballer happens to randomly walk into your house. Three years later he still doesn’t have a job, has knocked you up twice, and you give him a present? This woman has zero self-esteem.