Post by lozwinter on Aug 2, 2005 10:55:25 GMT
JESSICA AND NICK: FROM NEWLYWEDS TO BARELYWEDS
When it came time for Jessica Simpson to blow out the candles on the enormous Betty Boop cake at her 25th birthday bash on July 9, she quickly realized that a familiar face was missing from the crowd of young Hollywood stars, which included Jake Gyllenhaal, Mandy Moore, Eva Mendes, Joaquin Phoenix and Wilmer Valderrama. Was it hubby Nick Lachey, who was partying in another room with friends? No. "Where," a source says she wanted to know, "is Johnny?"
That would be Johnny Knoxville, her co-star in The Dukes of Hazzard (her feature-film debut, out Aug. 5). And also the man who reportedly was getting her engine racing while shooting the hot-cars-and- hot-bods flick in Baton Rouge, La., last winter.
For Jessica, who about two years ago ditzily said on the surreality show Newlyweds that when she turned 25 she'd "almost" reach her "mid-20s," the reality must have felt more like a mid-life crisis. The fact that the party was held at her parents' Encino, Calif., home didn't help dispel widespread speculation that her dream-couple marriage to Nick might be on the real-life rocks. "I'm not feeling a lot of love between them these days," says a colleague of Nick. "They're acting more like barelyweds than newlyweds."
SEPARATE ROOMS, SEPARATE LIVES
Despite the couple's insistence that their nearly three-year marriage is fine, thank you — Jessica sported not one but three wedding rings during a recent interview, and even announced that she and Nick, 31, plan to adopt a baby — sources close to both insist the couple "continues to look like they're drifting apart."
That was readily apparent to some guests at the birthday party, where Knoxville made a brief appearance before pulling a disappearing act. "And that probably made [Jessica] mad," said one guest. "She seemed upset that [Johnny] would leave so early, without talking to her first."
Also absent without a word of encouraging news was party host Joe Simpson, Jessica's father, who manages her career as well as that of her younger sister, Ashlee, 20. "Joe used to go out of his way to explain how wrong the rumors about Nick and Jessica were," said a business colleague of the clan. "But lately, his silence on the matter feels kind of like an admission that it's over."
www.starmagazine.com/news/61732
When it came time for Jessica Simpson to blow out the candles on the enormous Betty Boop cake at her 25th birthday bash on July 9, she quickly realized that a familiar face was missing from the crowd of young Hollywood stars, which included Jake Gyllenhaal, Mandy Moore, Eva Mendes, Joaquin Phoenix and Wilmer Valderrama. Was it hubby Nick Lachey, who was partying in another room with friends? No. "Where," a source says she wanted to know, "is Johnny?"
That would be Johnny Knoxville, her co-star in The Dukes of Hazzard (her feature-film debut, out Aug. 5). And also the man who reportedly was getting her engine racing while shooting the hot-cars-and- hot-bods flick in Baton Rouge, La., last winter.
For Jessica, who about two years ago ditzily said on the surreality show Newlyweds that when she turned 25 she'd "almost" reach her "mid-20s," the reality must have felt more like a mid-life crisis. The fact that the party was held at her parents' Encino, Calif., home didn't help dispel widespread speculation that her dream-couple marriage to Nick might be on the real-life rocks. "I'm not feeling a lot of love between them these days," says a colleague of Nick. "They're acting more like barelyweds than newlyweds."
SEPARATE ROOMS, SEPARATE LIVES
Despite the couple's insistence that their nearly three-year marriage is fine, thank you — Jessica sported not one but three wedding rings during a recent interview, and even announced that she and Nick, 31, plan to adopt a baby — sources close to both insist the couple "continues to look like they're drifting apart."
That was readily apparent to some guests at the birthday party, where Knoxville made a brief appearance before pulling a disappearing act. "And that probably made [Jessica] mad," said one guest. "She seemed upset that [Johnny] would leave so early, without talking to her first."
Also absent without a word of encouraging news was party host Joe Simpson, Jessica's father, who manages her career as well as that of her younger sister, Ashlee, 20. "Joe used to go out of his way to explain how wrong the rumors about Nick and Jessica were," said a business colleague of the clan. "But lately, his silence on the matter feels kind of like an admission that it's over."
www.starmagazine.com/news/61732