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Before Prince Harry’s Spare broke records, Jessica Simpson was the unexpectedly successful memoirist of this generation. She wrote Open Book, which was published in early 2020 to rave reviews and great sales. It was the perfect blend of confessional, celeb gossip, substance abuse and real-girl sh-t. It established Jess as a writer, and now she’s written a short story for Amazon Original Stories. The story is called “Movie Star” and it’s about a brief affair she had with a super A-list movie star in the early ‘00s. She tells People Mag now: “I will tell you this… he is still a movie star!” OMG.
She met this guy at the 2001 MTV VMA after-party at Man Ray when she and her future husband Nick Lachey were on a break. She and Nick got back together and married, but they separated again and soon after, she began an affair with this Movie Star. Hilariously, at this exact moment in September 2001, she writes that she was being pursued by two different boy banders, one from *NSYNC and one Backstreet Boy. Here’s an excerpt from the exact moment she meets the Movie Star:
I didn’t know that night at the MTV party that I was exactly five days away from going back to Nick and eventually marrying him, but that’s another story. For now, picture me in the black cocktail dress, doing what I was told to do by Columbia Records. Tonight was part of my job—to get as much press as possible for my new single “A Little Bit.”
The party on the red carpet got so crowded that we were all on top of each other, and my security guard stopped me from falling when I got jostled. I was determined to stand my ground, because my bosses at Columbia Records had told me, “We want you on the red carpet.” I truly thought that meant I was supposed to keep at least one foot on it at all times. My new album, Irresistible, had just come out, and these men sitting at the executive table had said it would define me— even as they had refused to let me write any of the songs on it. They scolded me to get down to 102 pounds, and they dictated my hair’s exact length (past my shoulders) and color (keep it blonde). If they knew I was avoiding another famous boybander, they would not be pleased. That much I knew. Dating a famous boybander would bring them the headlines they wanted.
As the phone kept ringing in my bag, I gave up my spot. “Should we go to the bar?” I asked my security guard. “I’m 21 now. I can buy a drink.” He grimaced, and I wasn’t sure if he disapproved of the drink or the calories. He happened to also be my trainer. I think he was paid to be there more to protect me from the hors d’oeuvres that were being passed around than crazed stalkers, but I liked him.
I saw his face suddenly brighten at someone behind me, and I turned to see the packed crowd somehow parting as a massive movie star walked toward us in jeans and a T-shirt. My bodyguard had said they were friends, but I’d wondered if he had maybe been exaggerating. Judging by the clenched handshake bro hug, the love was real. “This is Jessica,” my bodyguard said.
“I know,” said the Movie Star. 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, which was fine because I had plenty of reasons to ditch that outfit and change.
Movie Star started on small talk, and as he leaned in, I had the presence of mind to know, Oh, this is what it’s like to be hit on. Because, other than my ex-boyfriend, no man had ever been so upfront 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. Only he talked even softer.
I felt a funny feeling. I watched his lips move, but the rest of the world was in a dreamy focus. I was a big reader to make up for dropping out of high school, so I had read enough of Jane Austen and the Brontë sisters to know what was happening. This wasn’t love, but it was something dreamy. This is what they talk about when they talk about swooning, I thought. This is one of those swoon moments. This was different than the guilty butterflies that boys my age brought on when I thought something might be possible. This was real.
And I wasn’t ready. I fled Movie Star. I made some excuse and acted like Cinderella in bad booties. I wish I could say I was playing it cool. I later found out this was seen as “playing hard to get.”
[From People]
Jessica did get his number, and then five years later, after her marriage to Lachey crashed and burned, she reconnected with the Movie Star. She kissed him at the Beverly Hills Hotel and she was very hot for him. They would hang out in nightclubs, at mutual friends’ houses and even a movie set. He told her that things were winding down with his then-girlfriend, but Jessica came to realize that she was the side chick and he was hiding her. She writes that she felt “like a call girl” who was only there to have sex with him.
So, this is a Blind Item… who is the guy? She says she grew up watching him, so let’s be somewhat generous and say that he should be at least ten years older than her? She’s 42 now, so someone at least in their late 40s now. I totally looked up photos from the VMA after-party in 2001 to see if there were any movie stars photographed…um. Liev Schreiber was there!!! OMG, he has a thing for blondes too. Tim Robbins was there. Jessica has her photo taken with Derek Jeter! Anyway, I’m calling it… it was either Tim Robbins or Liev Schreiber. I’m leaning more towards Liev, so help me God.
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