This week, Jessica Simpson announced her split from Eric Johnson, her husband of ten years and father of their three kids. Their separation was widely rumored throughout 2024, and it looked like both Jessica and Eric had removed their wedding rings towards the end of the year. I assumed there were several factors – Jessica moved to Nashville to restart her music career, and there seemed to be significant money problems in recent years. So what was really going on? It sounds like someone cheated? At least that’s what Page Six’s sources are insinuating.
Jessica Simpson’s 10-year marriage to Eric Johnson was rocky long before their split, Page Six has exclusively learned.
“Jess and Eric had trust issues,” a source tells us. “They were no longer on the same page, and it drove a wedge between them.”
Simpson, 44, announced her separation from Johnson, 45, on Monday, confirming reports that they have been living apart while navigating what she called “a painful situation.”
“Our children come first, and we are focusing on what is best for them,” she said in a statement, referencing the estranged couple’s daughters, Maxwell, 12, and Birdie, 5, and son, Ace, 11. “We are grateful for all of the love and support that has been coming our way and appreciate privacy right now as we work through this as a family.”
We hear Simpson and Johnson — who are selling their $18 million marital home in Hidden Hills, Calif. — decided to live separately last year “as a trial of sorts” before officially calling it quits.
“Jess thought it would help if they spent some time apart,” our source shares, “but it only made her realize she enjoyed her independence.”
We’re told Simpson, who recently celebrated seven years of sobriety, has “good days and bad days,” but she is “handling the separation well, all things considered.”
Reps for the “With You” singer did not immediately respond to Page Six’s requests for comment. Simpson and Johnson first sparked breakup rumors in November 2024 after she cryptically wrote on Instagram that her plan to return to music was an “apology to [herself] for putting up with everything [she] did not deserve.”
Trust issues? Putting up with sh-t she didn’t deserve? Did that man cheat on her?? The thing is, Jessica has been “acting single” for the past year, which is fine because it turns out that she was in a trial separation. But I would love to know what came first and what started all of this. More housekeeping: it’s true that Jessica is selling their Hidden Hills, California home, she just slashed the price on it too. I assume Eric was living there while Jessica lived in Nashville. People Magazine also had an exclusive about how Eric and Jessica have worked out a “new schedule” for the kids and there’s no drama between them as parents. We’ll see.
Photos courtesy of Instagram, Backgrid and Cover Images.
