Jessica Simpson opened up about a secret romance with an unnamed movie star. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images)
Jessica Simpson didn’t share everything in her best-selling memoir Open Book. In a new short story for Amazon Original Stories, the singer detailed a secret romance she had with a “massive movie star” years ago. The entertainer reveals a lot about their romance — how they met, where they kissed for the first time and how things ended — but she didn’t reveal the mystery man’s name.
In the short story, appropriately titled Movie Star, Simpson said it all began in early September 2001 at MTV VMAs after-party. She was on a break from boyfriend Nick Lachey and was a hot commodity in the industry.
“I was dodging calls from two boybanders, one from NSync, the other from Backstreet Boys,” she wrote.
Simpson was also dodging some music executives at the bash when her bodyguard, who was also the star’s trainer, recognized a famous face in the crowd.
“This is Jessica,” the bodyguard said as he introduced her to Movie Star.
“I know,” replied the actor.
“He gave me a different hug — a modified celebrity embrace he held a few seconds longer than I expected. As our mutual friend, my bodyguard, talked, this megastar, who I grew up thinking was so hot, eyeballed me up and down. Like he was undressing me with his eyes,” Simpson wrote.
Movie Star and Simpson engaged in some small talk and she thought, “This is what it’s like to be hit on.” The singer said that other than Lachey, “no man had ever been so up front about looking at me in a provocative way. At least that I wanted to look at me that way. He placed a hand on my hip and leaned in so I could hear him better.”
The two soon ran into each other at gym in Los Angeles where she got Movie Star’s number — but didn’t call. Simpson ultimately reconciled with Lachey days later on Sept. 11, 2001. As she documented in Open Book, the two went on to get married and go through a very public divorce. She found herself very single again in 2006.
Story continues
In Simpson’s short story, she coyly talked about dodging advances from some pretty famous men after splitting from Lachey. One guy she dubbed RomCom, “a handsome romantic-comedy actor” and “aw-shucks southerner,” slipped her a hotel key without saying a word. But according to Simpson, it was “the guys who treated me like marriage material” who were “more dangerous.”
“A producer type” told Simpson he had a mystery bachelor to set her up with. “I have somebody who’s been after you forever, and you don’t even know it,” the person said. The man “got out his Nokia” and ended up connecting Simpson with Movie Star.
Simpson briefly met with the mystery actor at the Beverly Hills Hotel while he got ready for an awards show. In one of the bungalows, they kissed for the first time.
“I felt this warm rush all the way down my body, to the tips of my toes in my wedges,” Simpson recalled.
“He texted me throughout the awards show. The event was so huge that it made me feel special that every beautiful woman in Hollywood was there and he wanted me. In fact, there was one other beautiful woman in his life: his girlfriend,” she wrote. “Shortly after, I saw a photo of Movie Star on a red carpet with her. I was never ever in a million years going to be the other woman.”
Movie Star convinced Simpson the relationship was “completely” over, but he didn’t want the press to know. The two continued their courtship and hung out together at clubs around Los Angeles and Movie Star did not hide that he was pursuing the singer.
“Whereas a lot of guys were told by their management teams to steer clear of me or get sucked into my fame vortex, he was a seasoned vet in Hollywood, with a fame that was much greater than mine,” Simpson teased. “He had already achieved levels of success that nobody would ever obtain, so he didn’t really have people telling him what to do. And I actually liked that about him. He was very authentic.”
Another clue as to the actor’s identity: Simpson noted they “had different faiths, but the same reverence for God.” Movie Star apparently talked to a spiritual healer about how he wanted to have sex with the Newlyweds star.
Simpson emphasized that while they were intimate, the two did not have sex — but not for lack of trying on Movie Star’s part. He flew her on a private jet to the east coast for a romantic rendezvous while he filmed a movie. As their secret relationship continued, the actress recalled meeting him at a hotel, but she was directed to go up the fire stairs to reach his room. Later, she realized that was because he wanted to “hide me from his chick” not the press.
“There was some drama between them, and I was not going to be a part of it anymore. I experienced him in a really fun physical and flirtatious surface way, but now I would be sinning against every woman in the world, and that didn’t feel good,” Simpson continued. She did not kick Movie Star out of her room, but “we didn’t have sex.” Simpson wanted to end things on her terms.
“He had lied to me, saying I was the only one, but I was honest with myself. So, maybe, going forward, I didn’t need to feel as insecure as I thought I was,” Simpson shared. She left the next day without saying a word to the unnamed actor. “That was the first time I ever felt truly empowered since I was married, and it was mine alone.”
Simpson didn’t leave empty handed, though.
“I needed a trophy for this achievement, so I took the pillowcase he slept on. I didn’t care if it was creepy or if he had to pay for it… and it would send the message: this was fun, but now I have a memory of you,” Simpson wrote.
Movie Star called her, but she didn’t pick up.
“Why would you leave me?” he asked on a voicemail. “I can’t believe you just up and left me like this.”
Simpson said that “was the start of me learning to love myself fully.” The actress found someone to love her fully, too. Simpson has been married to NFL player Eric Johnson since 2014. They share three children: Maxwell, 10, Ace, 9, and Birdie, 3.
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