Back in the day, Jessica Simpson was known – and loved – as America’s Dumbest Blonde. She made a fortune out of that stereotype, through music, movies, and her extremely popular reality show, Newlyweds, with her first husband Nick Lachey. When her first marriage fell apart, she shifted her branding a little bit to fun single girl/still kind of dumb. Then there was another shift, she remarried, she started a family, and she’s still rich as hell. I don’t know, I felt like Jessica is probably not the brightest bulb, but I also think she generally means well, and she’s figured out a way to be mostly rich and quiet. She’s the very essence of a “harmless celebrity” and most people root for her on some level, or see themselves in her surprisingly normal daily life and struggles. Will all of that translate into book sales? I don’t know.
Since Jessica Simpson dropped “I Wanna Love You Forever” in 1999, fans can’t get enough of the singer and actress turned business mogul. Twenty years later, she’s working on her most honest, soul-baring project yet with an upcoming memoir, which will be published in February 2020.
“I have been approached many times over the years about writing a book. It never felt right to me until this very moment,” said Simpson, 39, who shared the news of her memoir exclusively with PEOPLE. “I have always felt that one of my God-given purposes in this life is to inspire people. I hope that by telling my whole story and not holding back I can help move people to walk through their fears and defeat their challenges, as I am working hard to do every day with mine. I hope readers will feel the love, laughter, tears and truth contained in every page.”
The untitled book, which will be published by Dey Street Books, will dive into the joys and difficulties of Simpson’s life. The mom of three—Simpson shares Maxwell, 7, Ace, 6, and 3-month-old Birdie May with her husband, NFL tight end Eric Johnson—will also show the ways her life has been a “work in progress.”
“Revealing new parts of herself for the first time, Simpson opens up about her struggles, and how she learned that with the right mindset—pain can give you tools, faith can give you courage, and challenges often give way to bigger opportunities and a bigger picture,” reads the press release. Simpson’s book will delve into her time on Newlyweds with then-husband Nick Lachey and their painful divorce. She’ll also write about falling in love with Johnson, 39, and raising their family. And for fans who want to know about her evolution as an artist and entrepreneur, Simpson will share intimate details about her career and what it took to create her billion-dollar fashion empire. Promising an inspiring look at her inner world, Simpson will reveal how she “consistently shatter[ed] all expectations of who she was supposed to be.”
On one side, if she keeps it inspirational/devotional and churchy, I could see the memoir being very successful. On the other side, her former-pastor father is now a late-in-life gay man who loves very young dudes, and Jessica is a divorced, LGBTQ-ally and Democrat married to a Harvard Yale alum. Which version of Jess will show up in the memoir? Both versions? One would hope.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Instagram.
Oh look, Jessica’s ghostwriter is penning a book.
Yawn…well, if anyone reads it, give it to me in a one sentence summary. And slutty brownies, farts, fake blonde and “tuna or chicken” don’t count.
My exact thought as well.
Many celebrity books are ghostwritten. Writing is a talent and skill, and not having that skill doesn’t mean your story isn’t worthy of being told.
Good points and I agree. I do the wish people wouldn’t be introduced as you wrote a book! Well no I assisted a writer. Celebs are given credit for things they don’t do to make them seem more talented and attractive i think. Im thinking of Natalie Portman’s body double in black swan. It takes years and years and a lot of talent to dance like that but they neglected to put much emphasis on that when promoting the movie for her to win awards
I hope it is churchy and all about faith and also that she’s a democrat. Those things aren’t in conflict, in fact they go well together because you can be religious and care about your planet and the people who are not like you. It’s time we took the hypocritical evangelical “only republicans love god” narrative away from Fox News.
Amen.
Exactly! I am so tired of the idea that only godless heathens can be supportive of women’s rights, LGBTQ+ issues, social justice, etc…
lol godless heathen doesn’t seem like a very woke term but then what do i know
One can have faith and care about human rights and the environment, Jimmy Carter is the perfect example of that. But the kind of churchy that Jessica Simpson’s management team used to sell was gross and very “gospel of the riches”-like. There used to be more talks about JS being a “good girl” than about her singing performing talents and her dad pretty much sold off her virginity (I’m not saying that she and Nick didn’t love each other, but they made a big show and loads of money based on her being a virgin until marriage). Pop culture was very slut-shamming back then and it catered to the religious right and I don’t think it was healthy for those who had to go through that period (think about the backlash Britney and Jessica’s sisters received for getting pregnant). There was nothing christian about promoting abstinence-only “sex-ed” (it’s not sex-ed then) when it leads to increased teen pregnancies, STIs and trauma from not learning about consent early enough. That level of managing women’s bodies and sexual desires is not close to what Jesus preached!
It’d be ballsy if she/her ghostwriter were to talk about all this but I doubt it will.
Can’t wait to read about Nich!
A book to remind people about her? Because she seems to be a bit young for memoir, but there you go, a book dead comes and we are reminded of the crazy mess that is her father
Her pain and struggles? Sorry to be cynical but what, she couldn’t find the right plastic surgeon fast enough?
I can’t think of anything I’d want to read less to be honest. She has always grated my nerves, I have never found her to be cute or entertaining in any way. And her obsession with the platform stilettos and ratty peroxide extensions! It’s like she won’t even TRY any other styles of fashion, shoes, or hairstyle!
AGREED 100%! ^^^
She’s always grated on me, too, and I’m not even sure why.
Yep. She’s always seemed liked a sh-t show who got to coast without ever really educating herself because she was a cute white blonde girl. She just seems so dumb. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing – but when you’re as flaky and empty seeming as she is, I have no idea how she’s going to have someone pump out a book for her. Her billion dollar fashion industry has very little to do with her – she or someone around her at least had the sensibility to have other smart people take care of it for her.
I’ve never really liked her. But the major thing was “oh look how much dumb sh-t Jessica says? Isn’t it endearing?” and I don’t like when we’re promoting being dumb but pretty.
Not feeling good about promoting being dumb but pretty is exactly how I felt about Paris Hilton. It’s just gross. Jessica seems more harmless than Paris for some reason to me though. I was in high school when parit became a name and it felt so insulting, do t have goals or a mind just have a high pitched voice society loves u then
Well if I remember correctly during the parents’ divorce, Tina got the fashion business because she was the driving force behind that – not Jess. Her book should be called book of nothing because she doesn’t have anything to say.
I can see the meeting….
So what’s your angle?
…
What are your struggles?
…
I can see it in your face that you’re reminiscing.
…
(Call the best ghost writer you can get your hands on).
Thanks for the meeting Jessica
…
I predict churchy, because, let’s face it, this is all about making money and portraying herself in a certain way. I’m sure she’ll emphasize love and inclusiveness, but I highly doubt she’ll use her platform in a way that is provocative or educational. There’s way too much at risk in a move like that and, frankly, it wouldn’t be on-brand for her. I can’t imagine a book I’d want to read less.
Did her father ever “officially” come out? Or has it just been assumed? I mean, I have certainly assumed so.
I asked the same thing! Perhaps we missed the article?!
It’s probably on TMZ.
I’d go for churchy too…don’t find her interesting enough to want to read this and it seems her parents/team are the brains behind her empire.
Oh, and her husband is a Yale grad, not Harvard, and also got into Wharton. Wasn’t there some overlap with Jess and his first marriage? They def seem to adore each other but at times wonder what the heck they have in common and talk about.
He’s not that smart, either; that’s why they work. I know someone (from a very prominent DC family; not very bright and constantly parties) who was in the Wharton class Eric was supposed to attend (until he got with Jessica and quit the program because he’d found his sugar mama), and it is nothing more than a prestige program that allows celebrities and the children of the wealthy and well-connected to say they have a degree from Wharton (See: Ivanka Trump).
He got into Yale because he was a football player, and a good one. He got into Wharton because he was a former NFL player.
The only thing coming to mind is my notification tone — Transylvania’s blah, blah, blah.
She did really well with her fashion line. She should really leave it there.
Wait did her dad finally come out publicly from thAt see through closet?? I remember nick lachey talking how “handsy” her father was and how uncomfortable he made him feel. (Btw not relating her dad being gay to him being creepy but just that it was well known he was both).
I had no idea that Jessica’s dad came out as gay. I’m glad he found the strength to do so. Not so happy to hear about the very young men being courted as described in this article…
Also, I would be interested to read the book because this woman built a very successful business despite all the dumbo blonde assumptions that people (this comment section included) make about her. Of course it doesn’t help that her reality show with Nick Lachey used the dumb blonde angle as a marketing tool… It just seems to me that she is disrespected a lot – remember that disgusting sexual napalm comment John Mayor made about her? I don’t know, she is laughing all the way to the bank and I kind of admire the type of person that can do her own thing and tune out all the nay sayers.
Ugh…Jessica really does not need 4ft of fake hair on her petite frame…I am ready for this VERY long phase of overwhelmingly long extensions to come to an end…Kim K, you’re on the list also. 🙂
It’s hard to believe that she was once so pretty and natural-
The makeup, the excessive ‘hair’, the weight, the horrendous style-she could not look worse and than the churchy crap from this judgmental, purity ring wearing hypocrite-GO AWAY-
I always thought Jessica was very striking naturally, she has great features. But yeah she really goes for the opposite of a natural look.
Her struggle to find flattering extensions and makeup? They look like Instant soup noodles!
She needs to seriously let it go.
WHY does she feel the need to write about Nick and their marriage and divorce 15 years later?
This just proves she is not over him if she has to bring up something that happened YEARS ago.
I am sure she will play the victim card and paint Nick in a bad light.
Do you remember the details? I thought she and her dad wanted the divorce, and Nick was the “victim”, more like winner, if you ask me. I’m sure she will paint it differently, though.
From what I remember, her dad was super involved in their relationship and Jessica was fine with it and Nick wasn’t. That’s what led to their divorce.
From what I read at the time, Nick seemed pretty controlling.
Hell I’ll read it, I used to watch her reality TV show with Nick, they were an early 2000s supercouple and their breakup was SO messy….
I don’t think her image now is particularly ‘churchy’ or preachy. Her dad was some kind of minister and her patents pushed her out there as a child and teen to be a star. There was the cynical branding of her as a sexy virgin bride to Nick which again was largely down to her IMO creepy dad–remember how he liked to talk about her double D boobs? Her parents made Britney’s parents look good in comparison.
I was gonna say, I wonder if she’ll cover her creepy dad in the book. I remember all those cringe-y comments about how awesome her body was and who could resist those double D’s. Gah, it was so trumpian.
I skip autobiographies in general because it is so rare for a person to be completely forthcoming….I know I wouldn’t be. (An exception to this are the Keith Richards and Patti Lupone autobiographies, which were both frank and funny).
I don’t think this is going to be frank and funny. There is a lot of stuff I wouldn’t want to discuss if I were her. How the mom and dad were stage parents, whether she cheated on Nick (or he on her), the John Mayer stuff, etc.
Will she talk about banging Bam too? Anyone remember that story
I remember that and was wondering if she would cover “sexual napalm” she was for John Mayer.
Bam Magera? Gross.
I didn’t realize that having faith in something bigger than oneself AND being a flawed human who chooses not to judge others for their lifestyle choices were mutually exclusive. 😒 The hypocrisy is THICK on this site.
It’s ironic that she’s writing a book, she always sounded all but illiterate to me.
She’s genuinely funny and likeable, and I swear she gets more beautiful with age. And I’m not typically a fan girl type
What on Earth makes you think she’s a Democrat?