Probably not a surprise, right? There was speculation through the back half of last year about Jessica Simpson and Eric Johnson’s marriage. They hadn’t been seen together pretty much all of 2024. She wasn’t wearing her ring. She was hinting that heartbreak was fueling her return to music. And she would have been aware that people were all up in her comments wondering about her marital status and she did nothing to shut it down. 

 

So now it’s official. Yesterday Jessica confirmed in a statement, first to PEOPLE that:

"Eric and I have been living separately navigating a painful situation in our marriage. Our children come first, and we are focusing on what is best for them. 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." 

As breakup statements go? This is … unusual. Especially that first sentence. And it’s not like we don’t know what a generic breakup statement looks like. There are statements that add no fuel to the rumours. And then there are statements that says too much, does too much. Jessica’s falls into the second category. 

 

“Eric and I have been living separately navigating a painful situation in our marriage.”

It’s not just gossips, but anyone, any brain when they’re given a detail like “painful situation in our marriage” will wonder what that painful situation is. We might resist the urge to ask out loud, but it’s bouncing around in our minds. And that’s true even of people who aren’t famous. So when the couple is famous? When the wife is Jessica Simpson? Girl, come on. You know this will only make us that much more curious. And you’ve been a celebrity for too long to be able to say you’re naïve to this. 

 

Like I wouldn’t go so far as to take this as an invitation to go digging. But, like, she’s not NOT telling people to not go digging. Digging where though? 

Song lyrics? 

Still no word one when that comeback is happening but now that she’s single, she’s kinda giving  permission to go full CSI on these upcoming new tracks to piece together whatever “painful situation” they’ve been navigating in their marriage. With one exception – John Mayer, this does not apply to you, no Gossip Genie here. 

 

If I had to, though, at the risk of doing it too early… 

Jessica Simpson and Channing Tatum! 

 

Here's Jessica at Chateau Marmont last week in LA before the fires started.