NEED TO KNOW
Ashlee Simpson-Ross still reflects on the public backlash she faced after her lip-sync performance on Saturday Night Live in 2004
The singer appeared on Pod Meets World on Thursday, Aug. 21, and explained how the “bullying was insane” at the time of the mishap
But as she continues to think back, she acknowledges how the moment would be received differently if it had happened in 2025
Ashlee Simpson-Ross continues to reflect on the backlash she faced after her lip-sync performance on Saturday Night Live.
The 40-year-old singer joined Rider Strong, Danielle Fishel and Will Friedle on the Thursday, Aug. 21 episode of their podcast, Pod Meets World. During their conversation, Fishel, 44, candidly asked the singer about the unfortunate performance and the public scrutiny she received.
However, she shared whether she would have faced the same level of criticism if that had happened in the current day. “I think it’s a different era … I think during that time, I mean, the bullying was insane,” she said.
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Dana Edelson/NBCU Photo Bank
Ashlee Simpson performs on October 23, 2004
In 2004, the singer, who was 20 years old at the time, became the first musician to walk out of an SNL performance. Before her second song performance on the show began, which was supposed to be “Autobiography,” her hit single “Pieces of Me” played before she had even raised the microphone to her mouth.
Quickly, she looked around, confused, before dancing a jig and sneaking off the stage. Her band continued playing as the show cut to commercial. She later appeared before the credits rolled and attempted to explain herself. Soon after, she faced enormous backlash for her performance and decision to lip-sync, which she attributed to her recent acid reflux flare-up affecting her voice.
Paul Archuleta/Getty
Ashlee Simpson-Ross on July 20, 2024 in West Hollywood, California.
During Thursday’s conversation with Fishel, Friedle, 49, and Strong, 45, Simpson-Ross said she felt compelled 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 acknowledged.
She also believes the internet’s reaction to celebrity mistakes has evolved, “but also it hasn’t in some ways,” explaining, “I think it’s different now. For us, we had the magazines and this. Now everything’s kinda more fleeting.”
She said that at the time of her performance, the event and its reaction felt like it was on one person’s “shoulders forever,” adding, “And I think now everything is, like, a little bit more fleeting and fast.”
In the years since, she has repeatedly opened up about the negative impact on her mental health, revealing on her E! reality show, ASHLEE+EVAN in 2018, “The world hated me for this SNL moment I had.”
“I was such a young girl, and the world can be a cruel place,” Simpson-Ross told PEOPLE in 2018. “But I learned at that time in my life to believe in my work and in my album and to get up and keep fighting and carrying on.”
“I had amazing fans that stood by me,” she continued. “And I learned to be strong and stand up for yourself.”
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