Vanessa Lachey Defends ‘Petty’ Reaction To Jessica Simpson Memoir
Nick’s wife claims she never sent a gift to his famous ex.
Feb. 7 2020, Updated 5:23 p.m. ET
Vanessa Minnillo is standing behind the comments she previously made about her husband’s ex-wife.
As RadarOnline.com previously reported, Nick Lachey and Minnillo, 39, experienced an awkward moment during their February 3 interview with Today, when Hoda Kotb brought up that the couple sent Jessica Simpson, 39, a gift during a milestone in her life, “It wasn’t us, but thank you, whoever sent it from us. I didn’t. I don’t know her address,” Minnillo said.
Following the broadcast, social media users called the mother of three “petty” and “awkward,” so she took some time to respond to a few tweets in defense of her character.
When one user accused her of “some type of shade,” she responded,“Sorry you think that, just didn’t want to take credit for something we didn’t do. That’s all. Seems weird to ignore sending a big beautiful gift basket and taking that credit.”
“Trust me! If I sent something, I’d take credit!” she continued, “Truly… I think it’s weird accepting credit for something you didn’t do or give. Even weirder to bring up something so random. Just giving facts. Wanted to make sure we were truthful.”
To the user she referred to as a “classless act,” Minnillo wrote, “Totally hear you. But also, you make sure you do your research and state facts and ask appropriate questions as the host… don’t you think. The statement wasn’t true, so I was simply clearing that up. But definitely a beautiful sentiment if it was.”
As RadarOnline.com readers know, Simpson exposes some bombshell details about her failed marriage to Lachey, 46 in her tell-all “Open Book.”
Though she admits the former 98 Degrees member was her “first love,” she explains that they eventually “got crushed by the media and ourselves.”
But the singer’s insecurity also played a major role in their split.
During a night out in August 2004, Lachey’s interaction with a brunette club employee led to accusations he had a “wandering eye.”
With the troubles in their marriage, Simpson says they got to a point where they “just didn’t like each other.”
“I could feel him trying to like me, but everything I did seemed to annoy him,” Simpson writes.
As RadarOnline.com previously reported, the fashion designer admits she attempted to dress up like the women her husband partied with in order to look sexy for him, but she soon realized “he rarely looked at” her anymore.
She eventually decided to pull the plug on their union and did not budge when Lachey refused to sign the divorce papers, insisting they go to marriage counseling instead.
After Lachey appeared in an April 2006 documentary, she invited him over to chat and had sex with him one more time — a moment that gave her “confirmation that this man was not my husband anymore.”
After spilling the dirty details of their broken married,Simpson claimed in an interview that she “would never say anything to disrespect” her ex’s family Lachey seems to believe the same.
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Though he admitted he hasn’t read the book, he told Today : “I’m certainly happy for her and her life, I know she is happy for us.”
“There’s definitely a mutual respect there, so that’s, you know — obviously it was a long time ago; we’ve all moved on,” Lachey concluded.
