What to Know
Moms have sparked outrage on social media before by booking first-class seats for themselves and leaving their partners and children in economy (or even just joking about it). And apparently, Jessica Simpson has done the exact same thing—at least according to her ex-husband Nick Lachey.
Nick recently appeared on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen and recalled running into his ex-wife on a flight. Some critics on social media were pretty annoyed that he used the opportunity to spill the tea about the woman he was married to 20 years ago at this point. But to be fair, Andy asked him about the encounter — which led to him revealing that Jessica and her children were “in a separate class of service” during this particular journey.
Nick said he was near his ex on the flight and they hadn’t seen each other in 20 years.
But it sounds like there was no drama and things were surprisingly uneventful. However, the detail about Jessica flying first class while her kids were “in a separate class of service” has sparked a lot of conversations on social media, so perhaps Nick has created some drama after all.
When Andy asked Nick what running into Jessica on a plane was like, Nick said, “It was strangely OK. You know, it’s been 20 years… and so we hadn’t seen each other in those 20 years, and then spent six and a half hours on a flight to Hawaii together.”
He then clarified that by “spent six and a half hours” together, he meant “in the same vicinity.”
It sounds like he was seated near Jessica and her mom.
Nick Lachey ran into his ex Jessica Simpson on a flight to Hawaii #WWHL pic.twitter.com/c7zRRM2pWc
— Watch What Happens Live! (@BravoWWHL) May 14, 2026
He described the interaction as “cordial” and “respectful” and revealed that he was traveling with his “whole family.” Andy then asked if Jessica was with her entire family. Nick hesitated before trying to explain this. “Her mother and her were together,” he explained. “…I believe her kids and her — I’m not familiar with where they stand at this point, but her… husband — they were all on the plane, but not with us.”
Andy questioned, “The kids were in a separate class of service?” Nick confirmed, “Uh, yes. A separate class of service.”
Reactions to this were mixed.
Several people were adamant that parents should sit with their kids on planes, though some of the critics seemed to miss the part where Nick mentioned that Jessica’s children were not unsupervised. They were seated with their dad, Eric Johnson.
“I do not care how rich, famous, successful, or important someone thinks they are,” one critic wrote on X. “If I am on a six hour flight with my children, my kids are sitting with me. Period. They have and always will.”
Someone else said, “Unless those kids are 18, keep them with you. It’s not the job of other passenger’s to babysit them while you drink champagne and nap up in first class.” But again, other passengers were not responsible for watching Jessica and Eric’s kids.
Others saw the whole thing as a non-issue.
Some people pointed out that kids don’t care about having first-class seats. “Kids on a plane… in coach… is like sitting in 1st class to them,” one person argued. Someone else added, “And if they all sat in first class, people would hate on her for spoiling them. You can’t win.”
Besides, people saw no issue with Jessica spending time with her own mother. They assumed her kids probably didn’t mind either. “So what? Good for her!” a commenter wrote. “Also moms deserve to treat themselves and have some peace.”
Another person concluded, “The kids got a mom-free flight AND mom got a kid-free flight. Everybody won except Nick apparently.”
Because, yeah, people were also wondering why Nick even commented on this in the first place. One person argued that what Jessica did on that particular flight is “a common choice for a parent” and not a big deal. They jokingly added, “Is he selling a new book or something?”
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