Jessica Simpson on scrutiny over her weight: 'Do people want me to be drinking again? Because that's when I was heavier'

Jessica Simpson is no stranger to body-shaming comments — she's been famous for 25 years, after all — but "it hurts." The 42-year-old entrepreneur spoke with Bustle about scrutiny over her weight, most recently, that she's too thin. While she had no problem addressing haters, the singer was more coy when it came to rumors about Mark Wahlberg. (More on that later.)

Simpson's appearance made headlines in November when her sponsored post for Pottery Barn Kids went viral for the wrong reasons. Some on social media were convinced she was using Ozempic due to her petite figure, the FDA-approved diabetes medication that many in Hollywood (and beyond) are using as a weight-loss drug.

"Oh Lord. I mean, it is not [Ozempic]," Simpson declared, "it's willpower. I'm like, do people want me to be drinking again? Because that's when I was heavier. Or they want me to be having another baby? My body can't do it."

Simpson is more than five years sober. She detailed her struggle with alcohol and 20-year addiction to diet pills in her best-selling memoir, Open Book. The singer's weight fluctuation has coincided with the ups and downs of life, not to mention her three pregnancies. (She and husband Eric Johnson are parents to Maxwell Drew, 11, Ace Knute, 10, and Birdie Mae, 4.)

"I am fortunate to have been every size," Simpson shared, explaining she sees her body changes as an asset. "For [my] brand, understanding the women [who buy our products], and for my psyche."

Still, Simpson is only human.

"Am I going to let the negativity derail me? No, I'm too old for that," she added. "I am too connected to myself right now to let that derail me. It doesn't mean that it doesn't hurt."

Simpson addressed another issue in the Bustle interview the internet seems to deeply care about.

Earlier this year, the singer published a piece for Amazon Original Stories that detailed a secret past romance with a "massive movie star." Simpson wrote about how the famous actor, whom she never named, made her feel "like a call girl." One hint she gave was that the mystery man was religious: "We had different faiths, but the same reverence for God." It didn't take long before social media sleuths named Wahlberg as a possible suspect.

Bustle asked Simpson if she heard from Wahlberg since the story was published in January. "She laughs — like a deafening, throw-back-your-head-and-cackle laugh — before saying she would absolutely not confirm the subject's identity," the interviewer wrote.

The only thing Simpson had to say: "There's a lot of Catholics out there."