Nick, Jessica Want Privacy?
It looks like Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey want some privacy. Only not to reconcile.
Simpson asked the Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday to remove the
judge assigned to her pending divorce from Lachey, TV’s Extra reported.
The move is viewed as the first step toward having the case heard by a
private judge.
According to reports, Simpson’s petition accuses judge Michael P.
Linfield of being “prejudiced” against her. Despite the incendiary
language, the filing was described as a “formality” by Extra. A call
seeking comment from powerhouse Simpson attorney Robert Kaufman was not
returned Thursday.
Citing sources “connected with the case,” TMZ.com said both the Simpson
and Lachey camps want their split kept off the public docket.
Private judges, typically retired courtroom judges, are paid for by the
involved parties. Such parties are not always celebrities, although in
California it seems that they always are.
Renee Zellweger and
Kenny Chesney (annulled as of Tuesday),
Brad Pitt and
Jennifer Aniston (divorced as of October) and
Michael Jackson and Debbie Rowe (ongoing child custody issues) have all gone the private route.
Like their uncoupled celebrity brethren, Simpson, 25, and Lachey, 32,
have considerable assets to divide. From June 2004 to June 2005 alone,
Simpson, the pop singer turned reality TV phenomenon turned Dukes of
Hazzard film star, made a cool $8 million, per Forbes. Lachey, the
onetime boyband heartthrob, did not make the money magazine’s power
rankings.
Simpson filed for divorce from Lachey last Friday after the world’s
longest denied breakup. The former Newlyweds stars married in 2002.
Joal Ryan
E!Online