Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz has recently opened up about his marriage to Ashlee Simpson. Wentz and Simpson tied the knot in 2008, the same year they welcomed their son Bronx, whom they continue to co-parent.
The couple's divorce was finalized in 2011, just two years after the chart-topping band went on a multi-year hiatus. "My life had blown up completely," Wentz recently told Apple Music's Zane Lowe. "I got divorced, realized I didn't really like how famous I was. Didn't love who I was."
This summer, Pete will head back out on tour in support of Fall Out Boy’s new album, So Much (for) Stardust. It is the band’s first record since 2018, and the beginning of Fall Out Boy’s third decade together as a pop rock band.
8 How Pete Wentz Felt When After His Divorce To Ashlee Simpson
“My life was just like … a bomb had gone off in it,” the Fall Out Boy bassist told Nylon while reflecting on his divorce from the singer in an interview published recently.
"I thought it was forever," the bassist told Howard Stern in 2015. "My parents have been married, I think, 35 years. I don't really know. Forty years, this year, maybe? But no, I didn't. At the same time, we were both very young."
7 Did Fall Out Boy Affect Pete Wentz's Marriage To Ashlee Simpson?
In 2010, Fall Out Boy went on hiatus, and it took a huge toll on Pete Wentz's marriage to Ashlee Simpson. He had previously shared that he had struggled with depression ahead of the 'Pieces Of Me' singer filing for divorce.
"Here's what it really was: At 31, we'd had all these great years as a band, and then we took time off, and I basically became Mr. Mom," he explained to Howard Stern. "I had the beard, the flannel shirt. I didn't know what my identity was. That factored in. When your identity is what you do, it's hard when you stop doing it."
Wentz grew a beard just to see if he could because "It was the first time where I was like, 'Well, no one's really taking my picture. I'm just basically hanging out with my kid all day. Who cares?' I think when you stop caring about your personal appearance, your personal hygiene, it makes you even more depressed, but it makes you do it more," he explained. "It's like a vicious cycle."
6 How Media Attention Affected Pete Wentz And Ashlee Simpson's Marriage
Pete Wentz has admitted the press attention surrounding his marriage may have been a factor alongside their age.
"I think there's an important thing where you know how to fight, because you can fight with somebody, and it's not the end of everything. But if you don't know how to have those arguments, then they become nuclear. And we were doing this all in the public eye, which as you know, it doesn't help, because you have people scrutinizing everything you do: 'He cut his hair—it's breakup hair!' It's like, 'What?! It's a haircut.'"'
"I'd fly without the band, and I'd be like, 'How do you even get through the airport,' because I'd just follow a f****** backpack through the air... a security guy's backpack through the airport," said Wentz about the extremity of fame . "It was stuff I just didn't even get, because you didn't need it. You know what I mean?"
Fall Out Boy's singer also revealed the insanity of media attention the band faced during their height of fame. "It's weird to look back on now. Paparazzi broke down [producer] Neal [Avron]'s gate to his house when we were working on Folie [à Deux]. It was like that degree of chaos… I think that, for me, I needed to take time to just become a real person," explained the vocalist. "I didn't like any of that."
5 Pete Wentz Felt Betrayed By Ashlee's Behavor
At the time, the Grammy nominee felt like Ashlee Simpson had abandoned him, but looking back, he now understands how his own behavior played a part in their split.
“I would be an idiot to think that I didn’t contribute to the unraveling of it,” the 43-year-old acknowledged. “Of course, at first, I’m like, ‘This sucks! You bailed on me!’ But you get perspective. We have a kid together."
4 Did Pete Wentz's Drinking Cause Issues In His Marriage With Ashlee Simpson?
Things hit the fan between the famous pair whe Pete Wentz was “really upset” to be hosting a Jingle Ball event in late 2010.
“I wanted to be performing, but I wasn’t performing. I drank a bunch of beers and that night, I banged my head and I ended up needing to get stitches,” he recalled. “All this stuff that was not like myself at all, it was part of this cycle of being bummed out.”
3 How Divorce Was A Wake-Up Call For Pete Wentz
Pete Wentz admits his breakup from Ashlee Simpson forced the rock star to grow up and served as a reality check.
“You’ve atrophied all of these life skills,” he explained. “I was like, ‘Oh. You have to figure out how to be happy as an adult.’”
2 Has Pete Wentz Moved On After Ashlee Simpson Divorce?
The bassist and songwriter admits the tabloid coverage diminished when he began dating model Meagan Camper in 2011. "It's not helpful for a healthy relationship," he said of the media attention." He and his longtime girlfriend share two children together: son Saint, 8, and daughter Marvel, 4.
But despite being “a man in love,” Pete Wentz said he and Camper have no immediate plans to get married.
“When you’re really committed to somebody, you know that you’re going to be with them, whether a ring changes that or not,” he said. “I do still believe in marriage. My parents are married. My sister is married. I am in love.”
Since their split, Ashlee Simpson has gone on to marry Evan Ross (son of Diana) and the couple are parents to Jagger, 7, and Ziggy, 2.
1 Pete Wentz And Ashlee Simpson Now Co-Parent Son Bronx
Pete Wentz and long-term partner Meagan Camper are raising his son Bronx Mowgli, 14, with his ex-wife Ashlee Simpson, and her husband, Evan Ross.
“We co-parent really well,” Wentz told People in 2018. “I have to say, I have really good co-parents to deal with. [Ashlee and Evan] are both communicative and easy-going."
“For Bronx, it’s basically the only life he’s really known. So it’s normal to him, and he’s really good at it. Our schedules can be crazy, so we’ve been good about making sure Bronx has balance.”
When Wentz is on tour, the family enjoy plenty of FaceTime dates, and when he’s home at their L.A. property, he’s just “the guy that makes pancakes or runs around in the backyard with them, which is grounding in the best possible way.”
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