Is Ashlee Simpson pregnant? And, if so, is that the reason she and Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz announced their engagement last week?
Well, according to a pair of well-known gossip publications, the answer to both questions is a resounding “yes.”
Of course, Wentz begs to differ.
In an e-mail to MTV News, Wentz denied reports that surfaced Monday (April 14) on the Web sites of OK! magazine and Us Weekly that he and Simpson, 23, are expecting their first child.
“There is a witch hunt for people to be pregnant whenever they get engaged in Hollywood,” he wrote. “This is all news to me. I can’t wait for the story about how I’m really in a gay relationship and this is all just a cover. … I mean really, this is crazy. … I mean we’re engaged, that’s true, and happy about it.”
Asked again if he was denying reports that Simpson is pregnant, Wentz, 28, replied, “Yeah.”
OK! and Us Weekly both cited unnamed sources close to the couple in their stories. OK!, which reports that the baby is due in October, offered as “proof” an account of Ashlee dealing with a “fierce bout of what appeared to be morning sickness” during a lunch at Malibu’s Chart House restaurant.
“Ashlee would like to walk down the aisle before she’s showing,” a source told OK! “Although she’s very cute the way she’s always checking out her belly now and asking everyone, ‘Am I showing yet?’ ”
The report then goes on to say that the couple are currently living in Simpson’s Hollywood Hills home, but that “they are already talking about finding something more kid-friendly.”
Us had reported that a source told them Simpson was pregnant shortly after her engagement to Wentz was first announced last week. When asked about the report by MTV News, Simpson’s rep replied: “Engaged.”
On Monday, a spokesperson for the couple added fuel to the speculation by declining to confirm nor deny this week’s rumors. “We are thrilled to confirm their engagement and congratulate this happy couple,” the rep told MTV News. “Beyond that there is nothing to add.”