Jessica Simpson explained why she was separated from her children several times on a recent flight.
The “With You” singer set the record shortly after her ex-husband Nick Lachey claimed she was sitting in first class while her children were on a six-hour economy flight, telling a photographer at LAX on Wednesday that “my mom bought that ticket.”
She repeated, “Going to Hawaii was my mother’s reward.”
As Mr. Simpson began to go through security, the photographer asked if the children could sit with him if he had purchased a ticket, to which Mr. Simpson replied, “Of course!”
Lachey pointed out that on last Wednesday’s episode of “Watch What Happens Live,” Simpson was sitting in first class with her mother, Tina Ann Drew, and her estranged husband, Eric Johnson.
The 98 Degrees member was on the plane with his wife Vanessa Lachey, whom he married in 2011, and their three children, son Camden, then 13, daughter Brooklyn, 11, and son Phoenix, 9.
“The kids and her, I believe, I don’t really know their position, but I think her husband was on the plane, but he wasn’t with us,” Nick explained, noting that his “ex-mother-in-law” was also on the flight.
The Love Is Blind host then acknowledged Andy Cohen’s question about whether Simpson and Johnson’s three children – daughter Maxwell, 14, son Ace, 12, and daughter Birdie, 7 – are “in a different class.”
Lachey said the crash “strangely turned out okay,” and reflected on how “it’s been 20 years” since their mid-August wedding.
The boy band frontman and fashion designer went on hiatus in 2002, followed by a hiatus three years later. Simpson and Nick finalized their divorce in 2006.
“We hadn’t seen each other in 20 years, and then we spent six and a half hours together on a plane to Hawaii,” he explained.
Lachey clarified that the two did not fly together, but were simply “in the same vicinity.”
He added that “everyone was very, very nice” and “very respectful.”
Simpson and Johnson married in 2014 and announced their split in 2025.
“Eric and I have been separating to work through some difficult times in our marriage,” Simpson told People magazine at the time.
“Our children come first and we are focused on what is best for them,” her statement continued. “We appreciate all the love and support we have received and value our privacy at this time as we work through this situation as a family.”
