Jessica Simpson Recalls Feeling Heartbroken By Being Body-Shamed: ‘I Was Taken Down By The World’

J.W.

We’ve already been shocked by many of the claims Jessica Simpson made in anticipation of her memoir, Open Book, but it seems there’s more coming that we don’t know about.

The 39-year-old has divulged everything from her struggles with alcohol to her relationship pitfalls ahead of the book’s release today, and now she’s diving even deeper. More of her interview with Hoda Kotb came out on Tuesday, with plenty of additional juicy info to be discussed.

Related: Nick & Vanessa Lachey Contradict Jessica Simpson In AWKWARD Interview

In one chapter, “Death By Mom Jeans,” the Public Affair songstress recounts being harshly body-shamed in 2009 after performing at a chili cook-off event. Though Simpson said she was a size four at the time, she received intense backlash over her physique once images (below) went viral:

“This picture that circulated and went worldwide broke my heart. Not the picture necessarily, but the caption. Like, all the captions.”

jessica simpson opens up about being body shamed
(c) Aruna Gilbert/WENN

Once the body-shamers got talking online and in the tabloids, Jess explained she felt embarrassed for her boyfriend at the time, Dallas Cowboys player Tony Romo:

“I think that that comes from other relationships. Tony never made me feel that way. I always felt confident when I was with Tony. I was taken down by the world.”

Not all of the relationships she has been in have left her feeling so confident, unfortunately. The mother of three recounted the day John Mayer broke up with her, hours before she was set to perform the iconic tune 9 to 5 at the Kennedy Center Honors tribute to her idol Dolly Parton:

“I drank before I went onstage. That is not John’s fault. I’m the one that drank. I just tried to numb myself. And I was too numb that I couldn’t connect with anyone. I couldn’t connect to the song I already knew. I just stopped. Like, I just stopped. And I froze. And then I just said I was sorry. And that Dolly deserved better.”

She never finished the song on stage and had her photo taken with Dolly and fellow country queens Reba McEntire and Shania Twain, though it’s an image she cannot look at:

“This picture that most people would hang in their house, you know, it’s these mentors of mine that are, like, country goddesses … and … I can’t even look at the picture. I can’t look at my face because I know the pain that I was having. I didn’t feel worthy of being in that photo.”

ICYMI, Jessica has already spilled quite a bit about her fling with the Half of My Heart crooner, but there’s apparently quite more to come once we give her book a read:

“He might be the one that won’t like to read this book very much. There are stories in here that John knows. He might be shocked that I reveal.”

So, what exactly is Miz Simpson’s intention behind writing her memoir and telling us her tale? She shared:

“I wanted to show people the obstacles that I had to get through and the tools that I have now to go back and face them. I know what to do with it all now, and I’m proud of it.”

Ch-ch-check out more from Jess and Hoda:

Will U be picking up a copy of Open Book, Perezcious readers?? Let us know (below) in the comments!!

[Image via Jessica Simpson/Instagram]

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