The late ‘90s/early aughts were a great time for pop music, with icons like Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera hitting the scene and boy bands like ‘NSYNC, the Backstreets Boys and 98 Degrees at the height of their game. Jessica Simpson was right there too, and she’s apparently got plenty of tea to spill about things that went down in her young adulthood, including being seduced by a “massive movie star.” As titillating as that story is, though, I can’t stop thinking about her revelations about being pursued by multiple boy-banders, including one who was sleeping in his car.
Jessica Simpson had plenty to say in her 2020 memoir Open Book, but it seems she’s gone deeper into the vault with some more fascinating recollections for Amazon Original Stories. Check out a couple of the bombshells she drops in Movie Star: They Always Say They're Single.
Jessica Simpson Details Getting Seduced By An A-List Movie Star
The Dukes of Hazzard star penned a new short story about a red carpet event she attended at the 2001 MTV VMAs afterparty. While standing her ground around the likes of Jennifer Lopez and Ja Rule, Jessica Simpson said she was introduced to a major movie star who was a friend of her security guard. She recalled the celebrity, who was “so hot” and apparently not single, giving her a long hug, and she wrote in Movie Star (per People):
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.
Jessica Simpson said she was swooning when she realized the “Movie Star” was actually trying to seduce her, recalling that he began talking more softly when he leaned closer to her. She continued:
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.’
While she didn’t give away the A-lister’s identity in the short story, she did confirm to People that “he is still a movie star!"
Jessica Simpson Reveals ‘NSYNC Boy-Bander Was Sleeping In His Car
As salacious as her movie star run-in was, it was her side story about another celebrity that really caught my attention from the Movie Star: They Always Say They're Single excerpt. The “With You” singer said that at the time she was broken up from her eventual husband and reality show co-star Nick Lachey of 98 Degrees, and was actually being pursued by both a Backstreet Boy and ‘NSYNC member. While she said she was hoping to avoid the unnamed Backstreet Boy at the VMAs afterparty, she dropped an interesting bit about the other pop star, writing:
The other boybander told me he was living in his car by choice. I knew enough about the industry to know that money in those boybands was always . . . iffy, but he seemed to double down on this conviction. ‘I'd be fine doing it the rest of my life,’ he said. ‘Just keep a few belongings.’ He used that word—’belongings’—and I pictured myself trying to cram all the stuff my Cancer heart wouldn't let go of into his car. That was not going to work.
It’s hard to think that in 2001 any member of ‘NSYNC wouldn’t be able to afford his own place, even if money wasn’t always flowing in for the pop stars. It’s also possible the band’s busy tour schedule justified the boybander’s decision not to lay down roots.
However, are we supposed to believe that one of the biggest names in music at the time was a regular patron of the laundromat? Was he really doing that by choice or trying to save face in front of Jessica Simpson about his financial situation? I would also have assumed that any one of the 'NSYNCers wardrobes back then would have been too expansive (and expensive) to keep in a car. I have so many questions!
Either way, the car life was not appealing to Jessica Simpson, as she said she ended it right then and there, apparently reuniting with Nick Lachey only days later.
Movie Star: They Always Say They're Single is available free to Amazon Prime members, and maybe we’ll get to see these stories play out in the TV adaptation of her memoir. A pilot starring John Stamos filmed late in 2022, so stay tuned for more about that, and in the meantime, check out our 2023 TV schedule to see what premieres are coming soon.
