Jessica Simpson is addressing the viral conversation sparked by her ex-husband, Nick Lachey, who revealed she flew first class on a trip to Hawaii while her children sat in coach.
Simpson clarified the situation after Lachey discussed their unexpected reunion on a flight nearly 20 years after their divorce, per Page Six.
Lachey had recently appeared on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, where he revealed that he had run into Simpson on a flight to Hawaii. He said Simpson and her mother were seated in first class, while her three children, Maxwell, Ace, and Birdie, sat in economy with Simpson’s estranged husband, Eric Johnson.
After the comments generated an online debate, Simpson responded while speaking to photographers at LAX, explaining that her mother had paid for the first-class tickets as a treat for the trip. She added that if she had purchased the tickets herself, her children would have been seated with her.
The former couple’s chance encounter marked the first time Simpson and Lachey had reportedly seen each other in two decades. Lachey described the interaction as cordial and “strangely OK,” noting that everyone remained respectful during the flight.
Simpson and Lachey were married from 2002 to 2006 and famously starred together on the MTV reality series Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica. Simpson later married Johnson in 2014, though the pair announced their separation in 2025.