Jessica Simpson reveals childhood sexual abuse and addiction issues in new memoir
Jessica Simpson revealed in her new memoir that childhood sexual abuse she experienced led to addiction issues as an adult. 'Open Book,' the 39-year-old singer's upcoming memoir, reveals that she turned to alcohol and pills to help cope with the trauma.
Jessica Simpson is sharing even more details about her alcoholism in a no-holds-barred interview with Hoda Kotb.
During the sit-down, which airs Wednesday on NBC’s "Today” show, the 39-year-old singer says that her alcohol consumption was spiraling out of control.
“I had started a spiral and I couldn’t catch up with myself…and that was with alcohol," she admitted. “Every day I would say it, ‘I’ll stop soon. I’ll cut back.’”
JESSICA SIMPSON REVEALS PAST SEXUAL ABUSE AND ADDICTION ISSUES IN TELL-ALL MEMOIR
Simpson added, “I would say it openly to everyone. ‘I know. I know, I’ll stop soon. I’ll cut back.’ For me to cut back, like I’m an all or nothing girl, and so I didn’t know it was a problem until it was.”
The fashion designer described how she was turning into a different person. “I completely didn’t recognize myself," she said. "I always had a glitter cup. It was always filled to the rim with alcohol. I just realized that I had to surrender. It was time. I had to give it up and I was ready. I’m not going to miss another day.”
Simpson details her battle with alcohol and drugs in her new memoir, "Open Book."
"I was killing myself with all the drinking and the pills," she wrote. She got sober in 2017 after she was too "zoned out" on Halloween to help get her kids ready for a party.
Simpson realized her lifestyle choices weren't healthy and told a few close friends that she needed help. "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," she recalled. "Giving up the alcohol was easy. I was mad at that bottle. At how it allowed me to stay complacent and numb.”
Her addiction issues were spurred by the sexual abuse she experienced as a child.
The mother of three revealed that she was inappropriately touched by a family friend's daughter when she was 6 years old.
"It would start with tickling my back and then go into things that were extremely uncomfortable... I was the victim but somehow I felt in the wrong," Simpson described in an excerpt from the memoir shared with People magazine.
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It took Simpson six years to tell her parents, Tina Simpson and Joe Simpson. She said her dad "said nothing" but "we never stayed at my parents' friend's house again but we also didn't talk about what I had said."
"Open Book" hits shelves on Feb. 4.
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