Ashlee Simpson-Ross Says 'Bullying Was Insane' In Aftermath of SNL Lip Syncing Scandal
Ashlee Simpson is reflecting on the intense public backlash she received after her infamous Saturday Night Live performance. While appearing on the Pod Meets World podcast, she opened up about the aftermath of her 2004 lip-syncing debacle. During the performance, her hit "Pieces of Me" mistakenly started playing before she even lifted the microphone for her second song, which was supposed to be "Autobiography." "I think it's a different era," Ashlee told podcast hosts Rider Strong, Danielle Fishel and Will Friedle on the August 21st episode. "I think during that time, I mean, the bullying was insane." Simpson was just 20 years old when the incident went to air live, and she became the first musician to walk out of an SNL performance, after looking confused and doing an awkward jig. She later appeared before the credits rolled and attempted to explain herself, however it did not stop the backlash. "My band started playing the wrong song, and I didn't know what to do, so I thought I'd do a hoedown," Simpson said at the time. "I'm sorry. This is live TV. These things happen!" Now looking back at 40 years old, she recalled feeling like she had to explain herself to people: "But then my whole life, I had to tell people, 'Oh, but I perform every night.' My fans know. I had to know that in my heart." 'Yes, I've had ups and downs just like every other human," she admitted before noting that just because she lost her voice, "that doesn’t mean [I] didn't write these songs." She noted how different media attention is on a celebrity now with the rise of social media, compared to in the early '00s where one event felt like it was on someone's "shoulders forever." "I think it's different now," she began. "For us, we had the magazines and this. Now everything's kinda more fleeting." This isn't the first time she spoke about the performance and how it affected her mentally. In February of 2024, while appearing on the Broad Ideas With Rachel Bilson & Olivia Allen podcast, she looked back on how she didn't have control at that point in her career. "I've never talked about or said, but it's like the other thing is, learning as a woman, when you say no, or as an artist or a human or whatever, that day I said 'I will not go on, I don't care. I can't speak,'" she shared. She went on to share that during rehearsals for the SNL performance, she discovered she had "two nodules beating against each other" which caused her to lose her voice. Despite telling the team she was not going to perform, the singer claimed she was asked to go on stage with pre-recorded vocals and lip sync. "My band has never practiced this, this is not going to go well," she recalled thinking of this new plan. "I can't do this."
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"I think it's a different era," Simpson said of the backlash, before sharing how just because she lost her voice it doesn't take away from the fact that she wrote her songs.
Ashlee Simpson is reflecting on the intense public backlash she received after her infamous Saturday Night Live performance.
While appearing on the Pod Meets World podcast, she opened up about the aftermath of her 2004 lip-syncing debacle. During the performance, her hit "Pieces of Me" mistakenly started playing before she even lifted the microphone for her second song, which was supposed to be "Autobiography."
"I think it's a different era," Ashlee told podcast hosts Rider Strong, Danielle Fishel and Will Friedle on the August 21st episode. "I think during that time, I mean, the bullying was insane."
Simpson was just 20 years old when the incident went to air live, and she became the first musician to walk out of an SNL performance, after looking confused and doing an awkward jig. She later appeared before the credits rolled and attempted to explain herself, however it did not stop the backlash.
"My band started playing the wrong song, and I didn't know what to do, so I thought I'd do a hoedown," Simpson said at the time. "I'm sorry. This is live TV. These things happen!"
Now looking back at 40 years old, she recalled feeling like she had to explain herself to people: "But then my whole life, I had to tell people, 'Oh, but I perform every night.' My fans know. I had to know that in my heart."
'Yes, I've had ups and downs just like every other human," she admitted before noting that just because she lost her voice, "that doesn’t mean [I] didn't write these songs."
She noted how different media attention is on a celebrity now with the rise of social media, compared to in the early '00s where one event felt like it was on someone's "shoulders forever."
"I think it's different now," she began. "For us, we had the magazines and this. Now everything's kinda more fleeting."
This isn't the first time she spoke about the performance and how it affected her mentally. In February of 2024, while appearing on the Broad Ideas With Rachel Bilson & Olivia Allen podcast, she looked back on how she didn't have control at that point in her career.
"I've never talked about or said, but it's like the other thing is, learning as a woman, when you say no, or as an artist or a human or whatever, that day I said 'I will not go on, I don't care. I can't speak,'" she shared.
She went on to share that during rehearsals for the SNL performance, she discovered she had "two nodules beating against each other" which caused her to lose her voice. Despite telling the team she was not going to perform, the singer claimed she was asked to go on stage with pre-recorded vocals and lip sync.
"My band has never practiced this, this is not going to go well," she recalled thinking of this new plan. "I can't do this."
