Nick Lachey’s Ups and Downs Through the Years: Jessica Simpson Divorce, Legal Trouble and More

Credit: Dan Steinberg/Invision/AP/Shutterstock

Nick Lachey's Ups and Downs Through the Years: Jessica Simpson Divorce, Legal Trouble and More

The spotlight has sometimes been glaring for Nick Lachey, who has dealt with both career ups and downs and personal highs and lows during his two-plus decades of fame. The 98 Degrees singer rose to stardom during his time with the boy band in the ‘90s — and skyrocketed once he married Jessica Simpson in 2002. While the group went on an extended hiatus in 2003, the then-couple featured their romance on the MTV reality show (and pop culture juggernaut) Newlyweds, but their marriage soon started to crumble. Things came to a head when the “Sweetest Sin” singer filed for divorce from Lachey in 2005. “I’ll tell you how I knew my marriage was over. I was told,” the “My Everything” singer told Rolling Stone one year later, claiming that Simpson announced she wanted a divorce while the two were in a limo after the American Music Awards. “She said something about how we hadn’t really been getting along and then said, ‘I think I want a divorce.’ That blindsided me. I basically said, ‘Please, let’s sleep on it.’ But when we woke up the next day, Wednesday morning, she was still sure.” (Simpson, for her part, detailed her side of the story in her 2020 memoir, Open Book.) Lachey channeled his emotions into his music, releasing the hit single, “What’s Left of Me,” in February 2006. He followed up the emotional track — which he penned in the wake of his split from Simpson — later that year with his sophomore album titled after the song. The “Because of You” artist began dating his now-wife, Vanessa Lachey (née Minnillo), after meeting on the set of the "What's Left of Me" video. The couple tied the knot in 2011 and went on to welcome three children together: Camden, Brooklyn and Phoenix. [jwplayer 1XBLztuZ-zhNYySv2] As the Lacheys built their life together and parented three kids, they also continued to achieve success in their separate — and joint — reality TV ventures. The pair have cohosted Netflix’s fan favorite dating competition series Love Is Blind since 2020, and Nick won season 5 of The Masked Singer in 2021. Despite all the positives in both his professional and personal lives, Nick found himself in legal trouble during an incident with a celebrity photographer in March 2022. “Last night, after enjoying a great dinner with my wife and our dear friend, the paparazzi harassed us as we walked back to our hotel,” Nick tweeted about the altercation one day later. “I clearly overreacted. I’ve been in this game long enough to know that their antics are sadly part of the deal. Stupid of me. Done.” According to the photographer, Jody Santos, she was snapping pictures of Nick and Vanessa outside of a restaurant in Beverly Hills when the “Hardest Thing” artist became “aggressive,” she told the Daily Mail one year later. He allegedly attempted to grab her phone from her car window, which she rolled up. The cameraperson alleged that Nick punched the glass so hard “I thought he was going to break his hand.” A representative for the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office clarified to Us Weekly that as a result of the incident, Nick is "participating in LADA’s Prefiling Diversion program,” which requires that “he must participate in anger management classes and attend Alcoholic Anonymous meetings.” The spokesperson added: “Successful completion of the Prefiling Diversion Program will result in no criminal charges being filed.” Keep scrolling for a timeline of Nick’s ups and downs through the years:

Credit: Dan Steinberg/Invision/AP/Shutterstock

Nick Lachey's Ups and Downs Through the Years: Jessica Simpson Divorce, Legal Trouble and More

The spotlight has sometimes been glaring for Nick Lachey, who has dealt with both career ups and downs and personal highs and lows during his two-plus decades of fame. The 98 Degrees singer rose to stardom during his time with the boy band in the ‘90s — and skyrocketed once he married Jessica Simpson in 2002. While the group went on an extended hiatus in 2003, the then-couple featured their romance on the MTV reality show (and pop culture juggernaut) Newlyweds, but their marriage soon started to crumble. Things came to a head when the “Sweetest Sin” singer filed for divorce from Lachey in 2005. “I’ll tell you how I knew my marriage was over. I was told,” the “My Everything” singer told Rolling Stone one year later, claiming that Simpson announced she wanted a divorce while the two were in a limo after the American Music Awards. “She said something about how we hadn’t really been getting along and then said, ‘I think I want a divorce.’ That blindsided me. I basically said, ‘Please, let’s sleep on it.’ But when we woke up the next day, Wednesday morning, she was still sure.” (Simpson, for her part, detailed her side of the story in her 2020 memoir, Open Book.) Lachey channeled his emotions into his music, releasing the hit single, “What’s Left of Me,” in February 2006. He followed up the emotional track — which he penned in the wake of his split from Simpson — later that year with his sophomore album titled after the song. The “Because of You” artist began dating his now-wife, Vanessa Lachey (née Minnillo), after meeting on the set of the "What's Left of Me" video. The couple tied the knot in 2011 and went on to welcome three children together: Camden, Brooklyn and Phoenix. [jwplayer 1XBLztuZ-zhNYySv2] As the Lacheys built their life together and parented three kids, they also continued to achieve success in their separate — and joint — reality TV ventures. The pair have cohosted Netflix’s fan favorite dating competition series Love Is Blind since 2020, and Nick won season 5 of The Masked Singer in 2021. Despite all the positives in both his professional and personal lives, Nick found himself in legal trouble during an incident with a celebrity photographer in March 2022. “Last night, after enjoying a great dinner with my wife and our dear friend, the paparazzi harassed us as we walked back to our hotel,” Nick tweeted about the altercation one day later. “I clearly overreacted. I’ve been in this game long enough to know that their antics are sadly part of the deal. Stupid of me. Done.” According to the photographer, Jody Santos, she was snapping pictures of Nick and Vanessa outside of a restaurant in Beverly Hills when the “Hardest Thing” artist became “aggressive,” she told the Daily Mail one year later. He allegedly attempted to grab her phone from her car window, which she rolled up. The cameraperson alleged that Nick punched the glass so hard “I thought he was going to break his hand.” A representative for the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office clarified to Us Weekly that as a result of the incident, Nick is "participating in LADA’s Prefiling Diversion program,” which requires that “he must participate in anger management classes and attend Alcoholic Anonymous meetings.” The spokesperson added: “Successful completion of the Prefiling Diversion Program will result in no criminal charges being filed.” Keep scrolling for a timeline of Nick’s ups and downs through the years:

Credit: Jim Smeal/BEI/Shutterstock

2005

After tying the knot with Simpson in 2002, she filed for divorce from the singer less than three years later, citing “irreconcilable differences.”

“It breaks my heart that I couldn’t make Jessica happy. I wanted to be everything to my wife. I wanted her to look at me with love in her eyes, the way she did at the beginning, and have her feel like I was the most wonderful, awe-inspiring man on the planet,” Nick told Rolling Stone in April 2006. "And when that stopped, it was the worst feeling in the world.”

Simpson later admitted in Open Book that she had an “emotional affair” with Dukes of Hazzard costar Johnny Knoxville amid her turmoil with Nick.

“We were young and pioneering our way through reality television, always miced and always on,” she recalled in her memoir. “We worked and we were great at it but when it came time to being alone, we weren’t great at it anymore.”

Credit: Henry Lamb/BEI/Shutterstock

2006

Despite the devastation of his divorce, Nick’s solo career hit an all-time high with the release of What’s Left of Me. The titular track became the “I Do” singer’s biggest individual hit, reaching No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100.

It was through the music video for the song that Nick met his now-wife, Vanessa, who starred alongside the singer in the video.

Credit: Henry Lamb/Photowire/BEI/Shutterstock

2011

Nick and Vanessa tied the knot in 2011 — and got engaged within a week of Simpson and her now-husband, Eric Johnson, in November 2010. “I will say the same thing I always say: I wish her the very best,” the Ohio native exclusively told Us at the time.

The Lacheys went on to welcome son Camden in 2012, daughter Brooklyn in 2015, and son Phoenix in 2016.

Credit: Netflix

2020

Nick and Vanessa began cohosting Love Is Blind in its inaugural season.

Credit: Michael Becker/FOX

May 2021

After winning season 5 of The Masked Singer — beating out stars like JoJo, Wiz Khalifa and Hanson for the top prize — Nick exclusively told Us that his three kids knew it was him in the pig costume all along. “They guessed it the first day and said, 'Oh, that's daddy!’” he shared at the time.

Credit: Kristina Bumphrey/Starpix/Shutterstock

July 2021

Two months after his triumphant Masked Singer win, Lachey reunited with 98 Degrees — and the boy band dropped “Where Do You Wanna Go,” their first single in eight years.

Credit: Jeremy Smith/imageSPACE/Shutterstock

March 2023

One year after getting into an altercation with a celebrity photographer — Nick attempted to take a paparazzo’s cell phone after she took pictures of him and Vanessa — he agreed to take anger management classes and attend Alcohol Anonymous meetings to avoid charges in the situation.

The boy bander is “participating in LADA’s Prefiling Diversion program,” a representative for the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office told Us in a statement, which requires that “he must participate in anger management classes and attend Alcoholic Anonymous meetings.” The rep explained, “Successful completion of the Prefiling Diversion Program will result in no criminal charges being filed.”