POSITIVE OUTLOOK
After feeling pressure to look perfect for most of her life, Jessica Simpson is at peace with her body
Jessica Simpson is finally feeling like the best version of herself, multiple sources tell Us.
Jessica Simpson was clearly ready for her close-up. On May 5, the blonde bombshell hopped out of her car to take some quick photos on the street in L.A. Decked out in a black pleated midi-skirt, shrunken leather vest and oversized Chanel bag, Simpson was
all smiles as an assistant gamely snapped pics of her showing off a $28,000 Panthère de Cartier ring and a bottle of Coke. “There has definitely been a spring in Jessica’s step lately,” says an insider.
“Her upbeat energy is infectious.”
Multiple sources tell Us that the 40-year-old singer-turned-mogul is indeed feeling happier and more confident than ever. “Jessica is in such a great place right now,” says the insider. “Her marriage is solid, her business is doing great and she’s feeling focused and optimistic about the future.” And after years of struggling to accept her body, the mom of three (she and husband of six years Eric Johnson share daughters Maxwell, 9, and Birdie, 2, and 7-year-old son Ace) has been opening up about finally learning to love herself. “I have no idea how much I weigh,” Simpson, who recently threw away her scale, revealed during an April 29 appearance on the Today show. “I just want to be able to feel good and zip my pants up. If I don’t, I have another size. I have every size!”
TOUGH TIMES
The road to self-acceptance hasn’t been easy. In her new essay for Amazon, Take the
Lead, Simpson says that for years, she felt she was “only as good as that number on the scale.” All the while, she secretly struggled with an addiction to pills and alcohol before getting sober in 2017. “It allowed me to stay… numb,” Simpson wrote in her 2020 memoir, Open Book. “I was killing myself.”
Before meeting former NFL pro Johnson, 41, in 2010, her highly publicized love life — including a 2006 divorce from singer Nick Lachey and tumultuous roller coaster romance with musician John Mayer — constantly made headlines. “For all of her success in the business world, she had this dark side,” says the insider, “and some demons she needed to face.”
NEW PURPOSE
These days, family life with Johnson and their kids keeps her grounded. “Being a mom has definitely changed Jessica and made her way more determined to live by example,” says the insider. “She feels very lucky to have married a guy like Eric, and she firmly believes he’s her soulmate.”
A second source says being a role model to Maxwell and Birdie has become more important than living up to some Hollywood body standard. “She doesn’t care about looking perfect anymore,” the source says. “She would never want her daughters to experience the mental anguish she’s gone through.”
Simpson’s become an inspiration to many of her fans, and she couldn’t be more thrilled. “She gets tons of messages thanking her for helping them accept themselves as they are,” the insider says, adding that Simpson is determined to keep making a difference. “She’s worked her butt off to get to this position in life and now she’s really reaping the rewards.”