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Nick and Vanessa Lachey Awkwardly Deny Sending His Ex-Wife Jessica Simpson a Gift: ‘It Wasn’t Us!’

What gift? Despite what Hoda Kotb said she heard from Jessica Simpson, Nick and Vanessa Lachey maintained that they didn’t send a gift to the Open Book author, Nick’s ex-wife.

Related: Jessica Simpson’s Love Life: Nick Lachey, John Mayer, Eric Johnson and More

The awkward moment happened as Kotb, 55, talked with the couple on Today With Hoda & Jenna on Monday, February 3. “I interviewed Jessica for her book, and she talked about how she has her life with her husband and children, and how she’s so happy for you guys, and how you guys had sent her something beautiful when she had her children,” she said.

The TV host then segued into another topic, but Vanessa, 39, later revisited the issue of the gift. “I feel bad. I’m sorry, but you said somebody sent her … It wasn’t us.”

Nick and Vanessa Lachey Awkwardly Deny Sending Jessica Simpson a Gift
Vanessa and Nick Lachey and Jessica Simspon Broadimage/Shutterstock; George Chinsee/WWD/Shutterstock

As Kotb tried to clear up the confusion, Nick, 46, laughed and asked Vanessa, “What’d you send?”

“I didn’t!” Vanessa responded. “I don’t know her address. But thank you, whoever sent it from us!”

Related: Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey’s Most Candid Quotes About Their Failed Marriage

Kotb’s conversation with Simpson, 39, about the gift doesn’t seem to have made it to air, but HollywoodLife.com reported in 2012 that Nick and Vanessa sent cookies to the former pop star’s hospital room after she gave birth to daughter Maxwell, the first of her three children with current husband Eric Johnson, whom she married in 2014.

Nick, who was married to Simpson from 2002 to 2006, exclusively told Us Weekly on Saturday, February 1, that he has not read a “single word” of Open Book, Simpson’s new memoir. “Both of us have not read the book, and no, she did not reach out before it was published,” he added.

Related: Nick and Vanessa Lachey: A Timeline of Their Relationship

The 98 Degrees member is a prominent talking point in the 416-page tome, however. “We meant a lot to each other and we always will,” Simpson wrote, recalling Nick as her first love. “I want to be very respectful because I married him for a reason and we were together for seven years for a reason. He has a family now and I would never say anything to disrespect that.”

Nick and Vanessa have been married since 2011 and have three children: son Camden, 7, daughter Brooklyn, 5, and son Phoenix, 3.

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