There’s some evidence that Jessica Simpson’s marriage has been falling apart for a while. Everything seemed fine up until a year ago. Then, rather suddenly, Jessica’s whole demeanor changed, and she looked like she’d gotten some drastic cosmetic work. For months now, there have been stories here and there – usually in TMZ – about Jessica and Eric Johnson’s marriage and divorce lawyers. Jessica’s fans have noticed that Eric has been missing on her social media for more than a year as well. Now Jessica and Eric are both playing the rings-off game, and it’s gotten so noticeable that even People Magazine is raising the “separate lives” alarm:
Jessica Simpson’s husband Eric Johnson has been spotted without his ring as a source tells PEOPLE the pair has been spending time apart. Johnson, 45, was photographed walking in Los Angeles sans wedding band on Tuesday, Nov. 12 amid rumors of a rift in his marriage to Simpson, 44, who’s preparing to release new music about 16 years after her last original studio album.
“She’s working on music and splits her time between Los Angeles and Nashville. Eric spends all of his time in L.A., where the kids go to school,” the source tells PEOPLE. “Jess and Eric very much live separate lives.”
Over the last several weeks, speculation about the state of their relationship grew after fans noticed Jessica hasn’t been wearing her wedding ring for many months.
“Hasn’t posted a pic of her husband in a year,” one social media user wrote on Sept. 23. Another social media user added, “She reminds me of a newly single girl in her latest posts ”
Jessica’s last Instagram feed post with the former NFL player was from September 2023, when she wished him a happy 44th birthday.
Yeah, I’m not sure why they’re dragging this out, other than the kids are still pretty young? Birdie is only 5 years old, Maxwell (the oldest) is 12. But Eric and Jessica are clearly separated and have been for a while. Maybe she’s so involved with relaunching her music career, she just hasn’t gotten around to filing for divorce. I wonder why Eric hasn’t filed though? I have a theory, actually: my guess is that they’re holding off on a divorce because Jessica’s finances are so chaotic right now. Jessica isn’t liquid at all – she’s put everything into buying back her brand/clothing line. Eric is probably holding off on the divorce until he can get a financial settlement.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.