Jessica Simpson opens up about hitting rock bottom with alcoholism
Singer shares picture from moment she decided to get sober four years ago
Singer Jessica Simpson has reflected on a dark part of her life when she was battling alcoholism and was an “unrecognisable version” of herself.
Simpson shared a picture of herself four years ago to the day and explained the background behind that moment.
“This person in the early morning of Nov 1, 2017 is an unrecognisable version of myself. I had so much self discovery to unlock and explore,” she wrote. “I knew in this very moment I would allow myself to take back my light, show victory over my internal battle of self respect, and brave this world with piercing clarity.
Personally, to do this I needed to stop drinking alcohol because it kept my mind and heart circling in the same direction and quite honestly I was exhausted. I wanted to feel the pain so I could carry it like a badge of honour,” she added.
Simpson, 41, had earlier opened up about how she had hit rock bottom on Halloween 2017 and realised she had to change.
She told journalist Hoda Kotb that on that day she had started drinking early in the morning and later was too inebriated to dress her children into their costumes for a party they were hosting.
“I had started a spiral and I couldn’t catch up with myself,” Simpson admitted to Kotb. “I was just like spiralling, chasing my tail. And that was with alcohol.”
The ‘I Wanna Love You Forever’ singer, who made her debut in 1999, said in her latest post that she’s in a much better place.
“The real work that needed to be done in my life was to actually accept failure, pain, brokenness, and self sabotage,” she wrote. “The drinking wasn’t the issue. I was. I didn’t love myself. I didn’t respect my own power. Today I do ... I am wildly honest and comfortably open. I am free.”
Simpson married NFL player Eric Johnson in 2014 and they have three children together.
The singer made her music debut around the same time as two other pop stars, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, and was subjected to the same kind of media scrutiny they faced, especially in regards to her relationship with ex-husband singer Nick Lachey.
In her memoir ‘Open Book’, Simpson has been open about her struggles with addiction and about being abused by a family friend’s daughter between the ages of 6 and 12.