Ashlee Simpson Reflects On 'SNL' Lip-Syncing Incident: 'It Was A Humbling Moment For Me'

Ashlee Simpson has the benefit of hindsight when it comes to her infamous 2004 appearance on Saturday night live. Speaking of Big ideas with Rachel Bilson and Olivia Allen podcast, the singer explained that her performance, which saw her lip-sync her single 'Autobiography', taught her how to reinvent herself.

“I had my rehearsal the night before and then I woke up the next day and I couldn't talk,” Simpson explained on the podcast episode. “I saw the voice doctor that day and I had two nodules hitting each other. That day I said, “I won't go on, I don't care. I can not speak “. Meanwhile, I'm not saying that. I'm writing this because I can't speak.”

However, Simpson said her label encouraged her to play with the pre-recorded vocals. “My band has never done that, that's not going to go well,” she explained of her response. “I can not do that”.

However, she took the stage, first performing “Pieces of Me” without a mistake. It was during her second song that the vocals didn't play right, causing Simpson to panic and walk off the stage. Speaking on the podcast, she reflected that it taught her “the power of saying no” and “the power of saying absolutely no”. He added: “That's what I would come back and say.”

“It was a humbling moment for me,” he said. “I had the No. 1 song and everything was ready to go somewhere. And then it was like, whoa. The humiliation of not even understanding what grown men would say about you, grown men, awful awful things. It was so hard to learn how to tune it out, find my strength, get up and go again.”

Simpson returned to SNL the following year, which he said was “terrifying to do.” He added that “having the show at the time was cool because all the people who were fans of mine stuck with me.”

For the most part, Simpson has stepped away from her music career in recent years. In 2022, she joined Demi Lovato on stage during a concert in Los Angeles for a performance of “La La,” which Lovato was covering on tour. Simpson's appearance alongside Lovato was her first time on stage since January 2019, when she and husband Evan Ross went on a short tour to promote their EP. Ashley + Evan. Before then, he had last toured in 2008.

Last year, he hinted at a new album during an interview with the Jennifer Hudson Show, telling the host that there is nothing scarier than playing music for her mother-in-law Diana Ross. “I keep saying I'm coming out with an album, I'm coming out with an album – and now I have to, you know?” said Simpson.