Jessica Simpson says her kids find media scrutiny of her body 'confusing'

Jessica Simpson says her children also see what the media and fans have to say about her body.

In a recent interview with “Access Hollywood,” the singer spoke about her latest partnership with PetSafe at an event hosted by the company. During her interview with host Kit Hoover, Simpson reflected on her public image and passed on her children’s perspectives on the scrutiny she often receives regarding her body.

“Now my kids see me being still scrutinized, and it’s very confusing to them,” Simpson explained in the interview. “They’re like, ‘Well, I don’t even understand this.’ Like, ‘Why don’t they just say you look pretty, Mommy? You look pretty.’”

"I wish I could say that, for me, it's gotten better, but it still remains the same, and I don't know why," she added.

Simpson shares two daughters — 11-year-old Maxwell Drew and 4-year-old Birdie Mae — and 10-year-old son Ace Knute with her husband, Eric Johnson.

During her interview with Access Hollywood, she recalled how she has struggled to provide her children with answers when they come to her with questions about how the media treats her body.

“I’m like, ‘Honey, like I really don’t — I wish I could explain it,’” she remarked. “I wish I could say for me that it’s gotten better, but it still remains the same.”

This past summer, the founder of The Jessica Simpson Collection addressed rumors that she was using Ozempic for her weight loss. In 2022, with “Extra,” she recalled how, despite having been in the public eye for a better part of her life, she still feels hurt by the criticism she receives to this day. That same year, she addressed fans who had ridiculed her appearance with a post on Instagram, writing in part that “peoples’ comments and judgments can still hurt.”

In her 2020 memoir “Open Book,” she spoke about being pressured by the media to lose weight.

Still, in her recent interview, Simpson says that her experience with her body has afforded her a unique perspective.

“It’s been a beautiful thing because I have been every size. I do understand everybody and every woman and their mentality and how deserving they are of fashion and style,” she added. “It’s just such a natural thing for me.”

“The Dukes of Hazzard” actor says it has also allowed her to help her children develop a positive and secure sense of themselves.

“I tell my kids, ‘How you feel about yourself is how you should feel,’” she explained. “Don’t dress for anybody else. You don’t try to look like anybody else. I mean, somebody can inspire something, but truly, you don’t have to be any other size.”

Simpson said she recently got to use her own experience with body-shaming to help her daughter before she develops insecurities.

“Maxwell’s the tallest in her grade. She’s like, ‘Should I be insecure?’” Simpson recalled. “I was like, ‘The fact that you’re asking me if you should be insecure means absolutely not. You’re comfortable. You stay comfortable. You be you.’”

This article was originally published on TODAY.com