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Jessica Simpson slammed claims saying she’s drinking alcohol again.
After the 44-year-old singer received a comment from a follower telling her to “STOP DRINKING!” below an Instagram photo she posted in celebration of her son Ace’s 11th birthday on 5 August, Simpson quickly assured fans that she is still sober.
“I haven’t wanted or touched alcohol since October 2017 and it has been the best decision I’ve made for myself and for my family,” she wrote. “Thank you for your concern, but you have me very misunderstood. Sending love your way.”
Immediately, the Instagram critic apologized for her assumption. The critic’s words come on the heels of Simpson celebrating nearly seven years of sobriety.
In 2021, the fashion designer wrote an earnest caption detailing what it was like at the beginning of her sobriety journey alongside a candid photo of her first day without alcohol.
“This person in the early morning of Nov 1, 2017 is an unrecognizable version of myself. I had so much self-discovery to unlock and explore,” she wrote. “I knew in this very moment I would allow myself to take back my light, show victory over my internal battle of self-respect, and brave this world with piercing clarity.”
“Personally, to do this I needed to stop drinking alcohol because it kept my mind and heart circling in the same direction and quite honestly I was exhausted,” she continued. “I wanted to feel the pain so I could carry it like a badge of honor. I wanted to live as a leader does and break cycles to advance forward- never looking back with regret and remorse over any choice I have made and would make for the rest of my time here within this beautiful world.”
She added that because of the stigma revolving around alcoholism, she realized that “the real work that needed to be done in my life was to actually accept failure, pain, brokenness, and self-sabotage.”
“The drinking wasn’t the issue. I was. I didn’t love myself. I didn’t respect my own power. Today I do. I have made nice with the fears and I have accepted the parts of my life that are just sad. I own my personal power with soulful courage. I am wildly honest and comfortably open. I am free,” she concluded.
In January 2020, Simpson spoke to People about unpacking her sobriety journey in her memoir titled Open Book.
“I didn’t realize all the stuff I had to say until I was actually connected to it through music and writing,” Simpson explained. “So when I started to go through all the depth of the pain that I was experiencing, I realized I was pretty rock bottom.”
She admitted that her “rock bottom” was during Halloween 2017 when she recalled being unable to dress her kids in their costumes and “zoning out” because of her drinking. The following day, her close friends came over and she acknowledged to them: “I need to stop. Something’s got to stop. And if it’s alcohol that’s doing this and making things worse, then I quit.”
