Parental parting of ways: Jessica Simpson's mom files for divorce from Papa Joe

Wonderwall, Wednesday, October 24, 2012, 10:18am (PDT)

By Kat Giantis

• It's the end of the line for the people responsible for making Ashlee and Jessica Simpson famous. Entertainment Tonight reports Tina Simpson has moved to end her 34-year marriage to Joe Simpson.

  Divorce papers were filed in the couple's home state of Texas on Sept. 24, less than two weeks after Papa Joe, a former minister turned manager, pleaded not guilty to driving under the influence after getting pulled over on Aug. 4 in Sherman Oaks, Calif.

  Tina, who has also managed her daughters' careers, apparently cited "discord or conflict of personalities" as the reason for the parting of ways.

  "It is an amicable split and there is no third party involved," a rep said in a statement. "Any other related allegations are completely false. The family appreciates your respect for their privacy at this time."

  Those "related allegations" and "third party" references presumably are in regards to the latest issue of the National Enquirer, which claims Joe recently revealed a big secret to his family.

  "Joe got the family together about two months ago and came out of the closet," a source alleges to the tab. "He told them that he'd tried to continue in his marriage to Tina. … Joe said it wasn't fair to her, and it wasn't fair to him."

  A "boy toy half his age" is also mentioned, but again, keep in mind that it's the Enquirer, so big boulder of salt and all that. Plus, a family confidant insists to Gossip Cop that there's "no truth" to the talk, labeling the reports "a joke."

  Either way, divorce rumblings have been growing louder for months.

  "Jessica had been hoping for a reconciliation, but now her mother is pushing harder for a formal separation," an insider maintained to OK! magazine in August.

  The estranged couple recently listed their Encino estate for $4.3 million.

  Joe is credited with turning Jessica into a billion-dollar business, and he's responsible for the best (read: creepiest) public compliment ever paid by a parent about a famous offspring: "She just is sexy. If you put her in a T-shirt or you put her in a bustier, she's sexy in both. She's got double Ds! You can't cover those suckers up!"

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