Jessica Simpson is returning to the screen — this time to tell her own story.
Netflix is developing a new feature-length documentary about the singer, actress, entrepreneur and former reality television star, with Joe Pearlman set to direct. The filmmaker is known for projects including Lewis Capaldi: How I’m Feeling Now and Robbie Williams.
The as-yet-untitled film is expected to arrive on Netflix in 2027 and will explore Simpson’s evolution from late-1990s pop star to one of the most recognisable personalities of early reality television — and eventually the founder of a major fashion business.
From pop star to reality television phenomenon
Jessica Simpson first emerged as a recording artist at the end of the 1990s, building a music career that would eventually generate more than 20 million record sales worldwide.
But for an entire generation, her biggest cultural breakthrough came through television.
In 2003, she and then-husband Nick Lachey became the stars of MTV’s Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica. The reality series followed the couple’s marriage and quickly became one of the defining celebrity shows of the era.
The series ran for three seasons from 2003 to 2005 and transformed Simpson from a successful singer into a mainstream pop-culture personality whose private life was suddenly watched by millions.
The woman behind the public image
Simpson’s relationship with fame has always been complicated.
Her reality television persona often leaned into humour and self-deprecation, but the image created around her also led to years of public scrutiny.
Her appearance, relationships and weight regularly became tabloid subjects, while moments from Newlyweds were repeatedly used to portray her as less serious than the businesswoman she later became.
That contrast between public perception and private reality is likely to be one of the most compelling elements of the new film.
Simpson has previously spoken about the power of being underestimated, particularly as she quietly built one of the most successful celebrity fashion businesses of its era.
A billion-dollar fashion success
After establishing herself across music and television, Simpson moved into fashion.
The Jessica Simpson Collection, launched in 2005, grew from footwear into a broad lifestyle business spanning clothing, accessories, fragrances, luggage and other categories.
At its peak, the brand generated more than $1 billion in annual retail sales, becoming a rare example of a celebrity fashion label with long-term commercial staying power.
The business also became deeply personal.
After ownership of the company changed hands, Simpson and her family eventually fought to regain control. In 2021, she bought the brand back for approximately $65 million, restoring full ownership of the company carrying her name.
Open Book revealed another side of Jessica
Simpson already gave audiences a much more candid version of her story in her bestselling 2020 memoir, Open Book.
The book explored some of the most difficult chapters of her life, including her marriage to Lachey, her relationship with John Mayer, struggles involving alcohol and body image, and experiences from her childhood.
The memoir became a major commercial success and marked a turning point in how the public understood Simpson.
Rather than the simplified celebrity persona created during the reality-TV era, Open Book presented a much more complicated portrait of fame, relationships and personal reinvention.
Joe Pearlman takes on the story
Director Joe Pearlman has become known for celebrity documentaries that move beyond traditional career retrospectives.
His previous projects have included intimate films about musicians such as Lewis Capaldi and Robbie Williams, as well as Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts.
His work often explores the emotional realities behind highly public careers, making Simpson a particularly interesting subject.
The Netflix documentary will also involve producer Van Toffler, whose connection to Simpson goes back decades.
Toffler was a senior MTV executive during the era when Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica became one of the network’s major reality hits.
More than 20 years later, the team behind the television show that helped define Simpson’s early public image is now returning to her story from a very different perspective.
A musical comeback adds another chapter
The timing of the documentary is significant.
After spending years largely away from recording, Simpson returned to music in 2025 with two EPs, Nashville Canyon — Part 1 and Part 2.
The releases represented a return to an identity that existed before the reality television fame, fashion empire and tabloid attention.
She also returned to performing, adding another contemporary chapter to a career that has repeatedly shifted between music, entertainment and business.
Life after another major personal change
The documentary also comes after a significant change in Simpson’s personal life.
She separated from her second husband, former NFL player Eric Johnson, in 2025.
The couple married in 2014 and share three children: Maxwell Drew, Ace Knute and Birdie Mae.
Exactly how deeply the film will explore her recent personal life has not yet been revealed.
Netflix has also not announced the documentary’s final title or exact release date.
More than a nostalgia documentary
Jessica Simpson’s story spans several dramatically different eras of celebrity culture.
She experienced the final years of the traditional pop-star system, became one of reality television’s earliest major celebrity personalities, survived an intensely aggressive tabloid era and then transformed herself into a successful entrepreneur.
Now, more than two decades after cameras first followed her personal life on MTV, Simpson is allowing them back in.
The difference is that this time, the story arrives after years of reflection, reinvention and a much clearer understanding of just how much existed behind the image the world thought it knew.
For Netflix, that makes the upcoming documentary much more than a nostalgic trip back to the early 2000s.
It is the story of a celebrity who was repeatedly underestimated — and who ultimately built a career far bigger than the persona that first made her famous.
