Ashlee Simpson Not Dating Pete Wentz’s Friend

Despite the rumours, People Magazine is reporting that Ashlee Simpson is not dating a close friend of Pete Wentz. Yesterday, Us Weekly ran a story about how Simpson was ‘revenge dating’ some musician, Craig Owens, of the band D.R.U.G.S. (Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows). A month after filing for divorce, there have been pictures of Simpson, 25, spending time with Owens, 26; time where his arm was around her back in a way that wasn’t necessarily romantic.

Anyhow, Us Weekly and E! Online took that and ran with it. Us Weekly more so, declaring them a couple and quoting some source about how betrayed Wentz feels about the whole thing. ‘Pete did a lot for this guy [signing D.R.U.G.S. to Wentz's Decaydance Records],’ says the source. ‘Craig was in another band and got kicked out. Pete found Craig, built a band around him and signed him. He’s shocked at how this guy is repaying him.’ That quote’s pretty vague, and Us Weekly seems to backtrack a little, countering their own story. Says a source close to Simpson, ‘Ashlee and Craig are longtime friends. They have spent some time together, and he is comforting her throughout this difficult time.’ With the latter quote, People agree with a source of their own. ‘Craig is a longtime friend and was comforting Ashlee during this difficult time,’ adds People’s source. ‘She’s not moving on. There’s no race for a new relationship. They’re friends.’

There’s another interesting quote buried at the bottom of the People article, about the custody battle, claiming there isn’t one. ‘Ashlee and Pete’s split is amicable and they’re working together to make this as positive a situation for [2-year-old son] Bronx as possible,’ says a source. ‘Right now her attention is on Bronx and some new work projects she has coming up. That’s it.’ Wentz apparently feels the same, ‘The only thing on Pete’s mind right now is spending as much time with Bronx as he can before goes out on the road next week.’