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The Big Flop

Ashlee Simpson: The Great Lip Sync Debate with Yamaneika Saunders and Isabel Hagen | 17

The Big Flop

Wondery

Society & Culture, Comedy, Business

4.6884 Ratings

🗓️ 15 January 2024

⏱️ 41 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

At only 20 years old, Ashlee Simpson was already a star, and her parents were raking it in. When she was asked to perform on Saturday Night Live alongside host Jude Law, she and her entourage were stoked. But the only thing that rocked that night was her career...as it fell off a cliff. Ashlee's lip-syncing catastrophe follows her to this day - but there's more to the story. Her own family pushed her to perform despite diagnosed vocal problems, which left Ashlee completely unprepared when the PR disaster struck.


Comedians Yamaneika Saunders (Life & Beth, Broad City) and Isabel Hagen (The Tonight Show, Is A Violist) join Misha to pick up the pieces of Ashlee Simpson's big SNL flop.


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Transcript

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0:00.0

Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to the Big Flop early and ad-free.

0:05.3

Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.

0:15.0

On the morning of October 23rd, 2004, Ashley Simpson wakes up with a sore throat.

0:26.2

Normally, not a huge deal, but today, she's supposed to perform on Saturday Night Live.

0:32.9

Ashley, who's only 20 years old, is the younger sister of bombshell singer Jessica Simpson and daughter of

0:40.6

Joe Simpson, an absolute stage dad. Joe is responsible for Ashley in more ways than one. He's not just

0:48.9

Ashley's father and biggest fan. He's her manager, an architect of her career.

0:55.2

Ashley croaks through her routine.

0:57.7

Dress rehearsal does not go well.

1:00.6

SNL producers get nervous, so a doctor is called to help, but the doc only brings bad news.

1:07.5

Ashley might severely damage her voice if she pushes too hard.

1:11.4

Backing out of the show would be best, or she could use a backing track.

1:20.0

Ashley turns to the one person she trusts the most.

1:23.7

Her dad, excuse me, her manager.

1:26.6

Joe insists the show must go on.

1:29.7

And by telling Ashley to take this risk,

1:32.3

Joe seems to be gambling everything his family has worked for.

1:36.5

And worse, he's subjecting his daughter to one of the worst public embarrassments in entertainment history.

1:50.4

Music Public Embarrassments in Entertainment History. Saturday Night Live is 90 minutes of flying without a net,

1:54.3

as they found out last Saturday night,

1:56.5

when the musical guest, Ashley Simpson,

1:58.9

walked off the set in the middle of her performance because

...

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