Jessica Simpson and Diana Ross Have More In Common Than Music and Being In-Laws
It’s amazing to imagine that Jessica Simpson is an in-law to Motown powerhouse, Diana Ross. Simpson’s sister Ashley is the daughter-in-law of Ross. Ashley married Evan Ross in 2016 and they’ve blended their musical families seamlessly almost immediately.
During Jessica’s current book tour, she opened up about the relationship between her and Diana Ross and shared that aside from marital ties, their road to sobriety has bonded them.
Jessica Simpson and Diana Ross have both dealt with alcohol dependency
Simpson’s first memoir reveals lots about the singer turned fashion mogul’s personal and professional life. One of the most striking revelations was her struggle with substance abuse, mainly alcohol – and at one point, prescription drugs.
Simpson writes that the sexual abuse she experienced as a child led her to mask her pain with addiction. She says she hit rock bottom after drinking too much on Halloween in 2017. With the exception of family photos she shared on Instagram, she has no recollection of the day. She remembered saying to her friends, “I need to stop. Something’s got to stop. And if it’s the alcohol that’s doing this, and making things worse, then I quit,” PEOPLE Magzine reported.
With the support of her friends, she didn’t take another sip of alcohol and hasn’t looked back. She revealed during an interview with The Today Show that through therapy, she’s taken the steps towards healing from her childhood trauma.
Like Simpson, her famous in-law has also reportedly dealt with issues pertaining to alcohol. Though Ross has never spoken of the alleged alcohol addiction publicly, her road to treatment has been documented for years.
In 2002, The Daily Mail reported that Ross checked into a rehabilitation facility to get her addiction under control. She allegedly had a $20,000 a month budget dedicated to alcohol and prescription drugs. Her issues with addiction were said to begin following the end of her 14-year marriage in 1999.
Jessica Simpson says she and Diana Ross have bonded over sobriety
Following Ross’s rehab stint, she allegedly had a full recovery and has been sober ever since. She’s focused on her career and family since her success with sobriety. She revels the most in being a grandmother.
Though she’s a proud grandmother, her work as a living legend hasn’t stopped. Ross celebrated her 75th birthday in 2019 with a world tour, selling out arenas across the globe. Simpson says that Ross inspires her not only as a performer, but as a person. She turned to Ross’s work during her divorce from her first husband, Nick Lachey.
“For me, going through my divorce, I watched ‘Lady Sings The Blues’ a lot,” Simpson revealed in a recent interview with Andy Cohen. “It was a powerful movie for me – it definitely made me like ‘I’m never taking drugs’ and the fact that Billy Holiday went through all of that was so intense but Diana did it with such grace and ease and power.”
Simpson admitted that Ross witnessed her behavior during her struggle with alcohol addiction and once she decided to choose sobriety, Simpson says Ross told her, “It was about time…she’s very honest.”
With both women living a sober life, Simpson says that she and Ross have connected more now than they have ever before throughout the course of knowing one another.
