"We can't control it, and we've basically quit trying. People are going to talk, and people are going to lie"
About this Quote
The real bite comes in the pivot: “People are going to talk, and people are going to lie.” Talk is framed as inevitable; lying is framed as routine. That pairing is the subtextual indictment of the tabloid-industrial complex, where speculation and fabrication blur because both generate clicks, calls, and cover lines. It’s also a subtle reframing of agency: if the public story is structurally ungovernable, then stepping back becomes the only controllable act.
In context, this reads like a veteran of early-2000s celebrity culture - when relationships became content and “exclusive” became a business model - deciding that reputational whack-a-mole is a rigged game. The intent isn’t to win an argument; it’s to stop bleeding attention. Lachey’s calm tone is strategic: refusing to sound rattled is itself a rebuttal, a way of denying rumor the oxygen of reaction.
Quote Details
| Topic | Betrayal |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Lachey, Nick. (2026, January 16). We can't control it, and we've basically quit trying. People are going to talk, and people are going to lie. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/we-cant-control-it-and-weve-basically-quit-trying-116416/
Chicago Style
Lachey, Nick. "We can't control it, and we've basically quit trying. People are going to talk, and people are going to lie." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/we-cant-control-it-and-weve-basically-quit-trying-116416/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"We can't control it, and we've basically quit trying. People are going to talk, and people are going to lie." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/we-cant-control-it-and-weve-basically-quit-trying-116416/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.




