Jessie James Decker held her nose, grabbed a bottle and sprayed a bare foot that had stretched into her seat area during a recent flight.
“Someone’s foot smells so bad on the plane,” she wrote over the now-viral video. The clip has attracted 3.5 million views and is the latest in a series of controversial posts from one of Nashville’s most polarizing WAGs.
“What would you have done?” Decker, 38, asked her followers. Many questioned whether the incident was genuine or staged for engagement—an accusation the singer and influencer has faced before.
Those claims have ranged from accusations that she used naked photos of her husband, former NFL wide receiver Eric Decker, to promote a cookbook to allegations that she digitally added abs to pictures of her children. She denied the latter, writing: “It’s a sad world we live in today when having healthy fit kids who are super active, play sports, build muscle naturally is ‘weird.’”
“She’s the original when it comes to being provocative for no apparent reason,” one Nashville insider told Our News Outlet.
“In the world of polished, performative, Southern, stereotypical country culture, she took it and pushed it to an entirely different level. Everyone else looks like a suburban Northeast trad wife by comparison.”
Yet deliberately courting controversy did not appear to be Decker’s original strategy.
A viral airplane video has renewed debate about Jessie James Decker and her reputation as one of Nashville’s most polarizing WAGs (pictured in 2025)
In the viral clip, a bare foot extends into Decker’s seat area as she covers her nose and sprays it away
Decker had been performing since the age of two. By 15, she was making regular trips to Nashville in pursuit of a singing career. After meeting Carla Wallace of independent label Big Yellow Dog Music and working with her, Decker signed with Mercury Records. She released her self-titled debut album in 2009, a country-pop project that reached No. 23 on the Billboard 200.
Several moderately successful releases followed. She later joined Warner Music Nashville and released her second studio album, Southern Girl City Lights, in 2017. The record debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart.
That success, however, did not propel her from mainstream recognition to pop superstardom. Her subsequent albums and singles failed to make a significant chart impact.
So where did her music career lose momentum?
“She didn’t have the right songs or the necessary resources,” one country music expert told us.
“Her entire image was, and remains, fairly plastic and inauthentic. She’s attractive and has a good voice, but that combination alone doesn’t really work.”
Another insider described Decker as “famous for being famous.”
“She will always call herself an artist, but the reality is that she’s a social media lifestyle influencer,” the source said.
“Like many people hovering on the edge of cultural relevance, there were probably moments when she felt it slipping away and believed she had to grab whatever she could to keep from falling.”
And grab she did.
“She’s the original when it comes to being provocative for no apparent reason,” a Nashville insider told Our News Outlet (pictured in 2022)
The Italian-born star spent years pursuing a music career before gaining wider recognition through reality television and her social media brand (pictured in 2019)
She entered the reality television world with an E! series documenting her wedding in Colorado. Eric & Jessie: Game On ran for three seasons and frequently drew criticism for Decker’s candid conversations about the couple’s sex life.
She also competed on the first season of Dancing with the Stars, finishing in 10th place, and appeared alongside her husband in Season 4 of Fox’s reality competition series Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test.
Decker and her husband, 39, met in 2011 and married in 2013. The couple have four children: Vivianne Rose, 12, Eric “Bubby” Thomas II, 10, Forrest Bradley, eight, and Denver Calloway, two.
She has also turned family life into a central part of her online persona. More than five million followers across Instagram, TikTok and YouTube regularly see her parenting choices, workouts and provocative posts about her husband.
Those posts have divided audiences. Some online critics have accused the Italian-born star of “pick-me” behavior, while others have questioned her parenting decisions—including a time she drank wine while breastfeeding and a post showing her then-four-year-old daughter Vivianne Rose with what appeared to be visible tan lines.
Multiple Reddit threads and “snark” pages—online communities devoted to criticizing and gossiping about public figures—also feature accounts from people who claim to have encountered Decker. Many of those recollections are negative.
Whether admired or criticized, Decker has continued to earn substantial sums. Sources claim she has made more than eight figures through brand endorsements over the years. She is also a New York Times bestselling author, having released four books beginning with her 2018 memoir, Just Jessie, followed by three cookbooks: Just Feed Me, Just Eat and, most recently, The Secret Sauce, published last month.
But her reputation has apparently caused friction offline as well as online.
“She was extremely difficult to work with because her demands and appetite for money were voracious,” a Nashville entertainment industry source said. “That said, I think the same could be said of anyone in that position.”
Decker and her husband Eric, 39, met in 2011 and married in 2013. They have four children: Vivianne Rose, 12, Eric “Bubby” Thomas II, 10, Forrest Bradley, eight, and Denver Calloway, two (pictured in 2022)
Decker has faced criticism for using naked photos of her husband to promote one of her cookbooks
“She clearly likes herself and has the kind of personality that, given her level of cultural relevance, allows her to be overly confident,” the source added.
“She reminds me of a mean girl from high school. She isn’t committing crimes or doing anything truly heinous; she’s simply being bratty.”
That assessment would likely resonate with some critics. A number of people claim they were blocked on Instagram after commenting about Decker’s fashion label, Kittenish, which she launched in 2014. Some say they were removed after raising concerns about orders or criticizing the brand. The Nashville store has a 1.7 rating on Trustpilot, with reviews citing poor quality, lengthy shipping delays and “catty” customer service.
According to a March 2026 press release, Kittenish partnered with global apparel company Topson Downs, a manufacturer known for helping scale brands including Rachel Roy and AFRM. The company will “oversee design, production, and omni-channel sales and distribution,” prompting further questions about the fashion brand’s financial health.
Decker said the relaunch would focus on “improved fit, fabrication, and consistency.” In earlier interviews, she acknowledged that the business had at times been “falling apart,” citing a crashed website, unfulfilled orders and years spent “trying to come up for air.”
Her latest venture, the fitness app JJD Fit, has done little to soften public criticism. Skepticism has been fueled by her previous brand partnerships, including her work as a South Beach Diet ambassador, as well as her own admission that she is not “a fitness expert.”
In 2021, she promoted what she called a “secret bread and protein diet,” which included two slices of bread with butter for lunch.
In Just Jessie, Decker wrote that her fitness background consisted mainly of watching circuit-training videos on YouTube and spending four weeks with a personal trainer. She also identified her brother John James—who now sells fat burners and children’s protein bars—as her fitness mentor.
One Nashville insider said Decker, who launched Kittenish in 2014 (pictured), was “extremely difficult to work with” because of her “voracious” demands and appetite for money
She has also said that she reached 110 pounds after her second pregnancy by following a “hardcore” 1,000-calorie-a-day diet.
At the time, she advised readers not to believe anyone “like someone on an infomercial” and recommended hiring a trainer if they could afford it, describing that expense as a “great investment.”
JJD Fit now charges $9.99 per month for access to workouts, diet advice and a wine club. However, the app does not involve a qualified trainer or dietitian.
Its programming centers on 21-day challenges, including “Fit Summer Body,” “Summer Strong” and the current fall program, “Sweat & Spice & Everything Tight.” One certified personal trainer criticized the format, saying short-term challenges of that kind can create unrealistic expectations.
“It wasn’t too long ago that JJD was sharing that she was going to F45, a global fitness franchise, for her workouts,” Tami Smith, a certified personal trainer and founder of Simply Strong App, wrote in a July blog post. “So the fact that she suddenly launched an app featuring her own workouts feels a bit sudden, to be honest.”
Critics have also questioned the fitness brand’s credibility because Decker has openly discussed undergoing plastic surgery. To some, marketing an app around her body transformation therefore appears misleading.
Some eagle-eyed followers have further alleged that portions of the app’s content may have been created with AI. Others believe at least one workout video was edited to make Decker’s body appear slimmer.
Decker regularly shares “body update” videos in which she discusses dissatisfaction with her breast size, postpartum changes and other insecurities. She often follows those personal posts with a link inviting followers to subscribe to her fitness app.
Decker’s JJD Fit app has done little to change public opinion, partly because of her previous South Beach Diet partnership and her admission that she is not “a fitness expert” (pictured in 2022)
Decker appeared alongside her husband in Season 4 of Fox’s reality competition series Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test in 2023
Decker has never confirmed that she underwent a mommy makeover or tummy tuck, though the possibility has long been discussed. In 2024, she acknowledged that she wanted to have the procedure.
According to Newsweek, Decker answered questions on Instagram, saying her skin was “def stretched out after 4 kids!” She added that she would “for sure get it tightened at some point,” probably with “just a mini tuck,” which she described as recutting the scar, pulling down the skin and sewing it back together. She said the procedure would make her feel better.
It is not known whether she ultimately had the surgery. Decker has, however, spoken openly about multiple breast procedures, including implants, reductions and lifts. She has most recently discussed plans for another reduction to “officially downsize” her “400plus” cc implants.
“She isn’t fraudulent; she’s just annoying,” the first insider said.
Decker does not appear particularly concerned by that criticism.
In March, she shared a video of herself dancing and told followers: “Some people will tell you I’m the nicest girl in the world, while others will tell you I’m a complete bitch. Believe them both. They got the version they deserved XoXo.”
Our News Outlet has contacted Decker’s representatives for comment.
