Jessica Simpson is celebrating six years of sobriety by reflecting on her journey and what led her to give up drinking.
Taking to her Instagram stories, the singer posted a photo of herself taken on Nov. 1, 2017. She originally shared the photo in 2021, while opening up about getting sober. Captioning the image from then, Simpson wrote about that "unrecognizable version" of herself.
"I had so much self discovery to unlock and explore. I knew in this very moment I would allow myself to take back my light, show victory over my internal battle of self respect, and brave this world with piercing clarity," she wrote.
"Personally, to do this I needed to stop drinking alcohol because it kept my mind and heart circling in the same direction and quite honestly I was exhausted," Simpson added before speaking out about the stigma of alcoholism.
"There is so much stigma around the word alcoholism or the label of an alcoholic. The real work that needed to be done in my life was to actually accept failure, pain, brokenness, and self sabotage," she wrote.
"The drinking wasn't the issue. I was. I didn't love myself. I didn't respect my own power. Today I do."
Simpson has been vocal about her struggles with alcohol in the past, writing about her addiction in her 2020 memoir "Open Book."
In an excerpt published by People, she recalled making the decision to get sober. It was on the night of Halloween in 2017 that she decided to get help and, with the support of friends and family, has been sober since.
"I was mad at that bottle. At how it allowed me to stay complacent and numb," she wrote.
"When I finally said I needed help, it was like I was that little girl that found her calling again in life," she continued. "I found direction and that was to walk straight ahead with no fear."
In her memoir, Simpson also revealed that she had been sexually abused as a child by the daughter of a family friend. It was what spurred her to drink in the first place. And while overcoming her addiction was tough, having to heal her past trauma was harder — but she conquered it.
"It's been a long hard deep emotional journey," she wrote. "One that I've come through the other side with pure happiness and fulfillment and acceptance of myself. I've used my pain and turned it into something that can be beautiful and hopefully inspiring to people."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.