Star Magazine features Jessica Simpson and her husband of seven months, Eric Johnson, on the cover this week with the dubious claim that “she punched him in the nose.” Their evidence seems to be the fact that Eric is sporting some kind of cut on the bridge of his nose. The article actually contradicts the cover headline, because they claim that Jessica clocked Eric across the face with her handbag, not her fist. According to Star, Jessica and Eric were out at celebrity hotspot Chateau Marmont on February 5th. They were drinking a lot and were already buzzed when they got there. (They had a driver.) While there, Jessica allegedly caught Eric giving a pretty girl his phone number and she wasn’t having it. Here’s part of Star’s story, with more in the print edition. Of course Jessica is the one who is crazy and raging.

Just a few hours after pulling up to the A-list hotspot, the couple stormed out after causing a violent scene in the hotel’s lobby.

Witnesses reported seeing Jessica screaming at her husband, and cameras captured Eric collapsing into their chauffeured car with a bloody gash on his nose. So what happened to sour the romantic mood of their outing? Star has the inside scoop on the couple’s startlingly public blowup…

According to friends, Jessica, 34, and Eric, 35, prepared for their rare kid-free night by having a few drinks at home… “They were actually really enjoying themselves during dinner, but that all changed after a few drinks,” says the insider, “because Jessica saw Eric exchange glances with another woman.”

The “other woman” was a pretty brunette sitting at a table behind Jessica. When [Jessica] noticed her husband smiling in that direction, she turned around to see who he was looking at. “Her mood changed instantly,” the source says. “From that point, it was clear things weren’t going to end well…”

When Eric got up to go to the bathroom, all hell broke loose… “After about five or 10 minutes, she grabbed her purse and went looking for him.” What she found sent her into a jealous rage.

“Eric was chatting with the cute woman Jessica had seen him looking at – and he had his phone out too, as if he was getting her number,” the source reveals. “Jessica walked straight over and snatched it out of his hand. Needless to say, the brunette left immediately.”

Things quickly went from bad to worse: Jessica unleashed a torrent of verbal abuse on her husband as he desperately tried to explain himself. “She went crazy,” says an eyewitness. “She was like a woman possessed!” When the couple emerged from hotel, Eric sported a nasty cut on his nose – which the source claims came courtesy of Jessica’s designer bag hitting him across the face!

Clearly mortified as blood glinted on the bridge of his nose, Eric turned and tried to leave. “The hotel is really small, and she was making a scene,” the spy adds. “But she powered over him.” Their screaming continued outside, near the valet stand, in front of several hotel guests.

[From Star Magazine, print edition, February 23, 2015]

If this actually happened the way Star claims, and that’s a huge IF, then it’s domestic abuse. I doubt it’s true by any stretch, though. Considering that Star claims this happened in front of witnesses it seems like someone would have tweeted about it. I checked Twitter and I couldn’t find any tweets about this alleged incident whatsoever. Plus, the couple’s rep denied this story and told Gossip Cop that Eric got that cut on the playground with his 19 month-old son, Ace. The rep told Gossip Copy “Ace was falling off a slide when Johnson jumped to help him and hit his face on the playground equipment.” That seems much more likely than Jessica clocking him in front of witnesses who only spoke to Star.

Meanwhile Jessica has Instagrammed some racy, suggestive pics of herself with Eric. Go here to see. She captioned them #50ShadesofJohnson (except all caps but I’m not doing that) and wrote on one “I’m so in love with you.” Maybe this is Jessica’s way of asserting that everything is fine at home, because otherwise Eric wouldn’t agree to participate in her high school photography project. I doubt that Jessica meant those photos as a cheeky nod to the allegations that she abused Eric. She doesn’t seem bright enough for that.

photo credit: WENN.com and FameFlynet