“We hadn’t seen each other in those 20 years,” Lachey said.

“When I say ‘spent,’ [I mean] in the same vicinity. Everyone was very cordial, very respectful,” Lachey, 52, said of Simpson, 45, to whom he was married from 2002-2006.

Lachey told Cohen that their respective families were aboard the airplane with them, including Simpson’s children and her mother, Tina.

Cohen referred to Simpson’s mom as Lachey’s “former mother-in-law” — a phrase Lachey repeated, before telling Cohen that he’s “not familiar with where they stand at this point,” but that Simpson’s husband Eric Johnson, from whom she separated in 2025, was on the plane as well, and stated that “it was fine.”

Lachey also suggested that Simpson’s children were on the plane, but separate from their mother, which Cohen asked about. Lachey then said that the children were seated in a “separate class of service” than Simpson.

Reports initially suggested that Lachey and Simpson’s run-in was “awkward,” though Lachey’s account differs from that classification.