Jessica Simpson grows into her own 'Skin'

by Joshua Maloni
Niagara Wheatfield Tribune, December 24, 2003
Grand Island Dispatch, December 26, 2003
Lewiston Porter Sentinel, December 27, 2003

In the beginning, there was pop-music, and it was good. Well, if you were a 13-year-old girl, it was great. For everyone else, however, it got old real fast. At the head of the class were boy bands like N’Sync and the Backstreet Boys, and pop princesses such as Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Mandy Moore and Jessica Simpson. Each girl, though fairly interchangeable, had their own super powers, of sort, and each, fearing the pop-rock musical landscape would not last, added in a variety of extracurricular activities to their respective repertoires.

Britney and Mandy took a short trek to Tinseltown, where each made lackluster movies. Mandy kept adding to her resume, with assorted TV gigs, while Britney kept subtracting clothes from her body, gracing the cover of scores of magazines in the process. She also publicly kissed Madonna, ironically, kissing off whatever credibility the “Material Girl” had left.

Christina, for lack of a better explanation, became a musical stripper. Sufficed to say, with assorted piercings, hair colors, questionable outfit choices and “dirrty” lyrics, it didn’t take.

Jessica Simpson was the good girl of the group. She had a religious background, dressed and acted clean-cut, and while dating a pin-up popster in Nick Lachey of 98 Degrees, she publicly stated that would remain a virgin until she was married.

Simpson recorded hits like “I Think I’m In Love,” “I Wanna Love You Forever” and “Irresistible.” She had a messy and public break-up with Lachey, before the two reconciled and ultimately married in 2002. While both continued to find moderate success in the music industry, their relationship, with all of its hullabaloo, became very appealing to various television networks. NBC televised Simpson and Lachey’s marriage, while MTV utilized her on various programs.

This summer, MTV began airing “Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica” a reality show about, that’s right, the newlyweds. It was successful from the get-go, with two personable stars appealing to the masses. Several likable episodes aired to a nice-size audience.

And then it happened.

During an episode, Simpson and Lachey were sitting on their couch watching television. He was into a sporting event, she, munching on some “Chicken of the Sea” tuna fish, felt suddenly inquisitive. This conversation followed:

Simpson: “Is this chicken that I have, or is it fish? I know it’s tuna, but is says ‘Chicken by the Sea.’ Is that stupid?”

Lachey: (Long pause)

Simpson: “What? Don’t make fun of me right now, I’m not in the mood.”

Lachey: “You act like you’ve never had tuna before.”

Simpson; “I’ve had tuna fish, like, sandwiches and stuff, that’s it.

Lachey: “You and I have eaten tuna like this before.”

Simpson: “Why is it called ‘Chicken by the Sea’ or ‘In the Sea’?”

Lachey: “It’s ‘Chicken of the Sea,’ is the brand.”

Simpson: “Oh.”

(Long silence)

It was a golden moment. From that point, the show, and her every word, were carefully scrutinized, and televised. She was leaving viewers both bewildered and expecting. She followed that little ditty up by going on a campout unprepared, and sporting an expensive Louis Vuitton bag. And, of course, there was the episode in which she questioned Buffalo Wings:

At a restaurant with Nick’s brother Drew and his wife -

Simpson: “I don’t eat buffalo”

Drew Lachey’s wife: “(Laughing) It’s not buffalo, idiot. Oh my god.”

Simpson: “It’s not?”

Wife: “No, it’s chicken.”

Simpson: “Why do they call them ‘Buffalo Wings’?”

Nick Lachey: “Baby, come on, you know it.”

Simpson: “I don’t know this.”

Drew Lachey: "Barbecue wings started in Buffalo, or something like that. You don’t find it weird that buffaloes don’t have wings?”

Simpson: “I never thought about it”

Simpson was thrust into the spotlight, as nightly fodder for talk shows, the subject of office cooler jokes, and very much in demand at award shows, music venues and even a “Chicken of the Sea” convention.

She was in town recently to promote Tommy Hilfiger jeans, and to host the “Kissmas Bash” holiday concert at HSBC Arena in Buffalo. In a cramped Kaufmann’s office, a bubbly Simpson, dressed in a tan sweater and slacks, met with local media to discuss the past year. The following is a conversation between Simpson and this writer.

Joshua Maloni: "As far as the chicken wings and all that … you seem to be very good-natured about the ribbing. Does it bother you at all?"

Jessica Simpson: “I’m very good-natured about my ditzy side. I’m very good-natured about that. I think everybody has their moments where they don’t know something, and ask somebody. Mine are just completely publicized all over the nation. So, you know I catch a lot of flack for it, but people are still embracing it. And, it’s a very cool thing.”

JM: “You’ve been on TV this week hosting several different events, in several different places. What is a typical travel week like when you’re out touring and doing this kind of thing (Tommy promotions)?”

JS: “Right now, I’m averaging about four hours of sleep a night. And, we’re doing something every single day. Sundays, Saturdays – there’s no weekends. Right now, unfortunately, Nick and I didn’t get to put up a Christmas tree because we’re so busy, and we’re home only one day in December. But, we’ll have a great time with our family. Since we’re newlyweds, we juggle both sides. We’ll go to Waco, Texas (for my family), and we’ll go to Cincinnati, Ohio (for his family).”

JM: “Talk about the acting side of your career. You signed on to do a pilot for ABC. Any idea what that might entail, or is that farther down the road?”

JS: “No, the ABC deal is not further down the road. It’s signed, it’s done, it will debut in the fall. It will be an awesome show. Definitely a sitcom, definitely comedy. It’s going to be reality meets script. It’s never been done before, what we’re going to be doing. There’s a lot of clever people behind it, and clever ideas, and I’m in on the whole development, the whole production, so it’s a very fun project to be involved in.”

JM: “How will you balance two TV shows, and a music career, and a new husband all together?"

JS: “Well, the good thing about the reality show is that they just go wherever I am. I don’t have to shoot anything. They’re just always where I am. So, if I’m on set in my ABC show, they’ll (just) be there. So, that’s easy to balance.

“Music career, Nick and I are doing a duets record that was just pretty much finalized yesterday. We’re going to work on that all of January when we’re home. It’s a cover album. It’s going to be really awesome – we’re so excited to be able to do that together."

JM: “Will he be incorporated into the ABC show at all?”

JS: “He might make special appearances in the sitcom. But he has his own stuff in the works. His dream is to be a sports commentator. Anything to do with sports, that’s what he wants to do."

JM: “He doesn’t have the acting interest like you do?’

JS: “He does have the acting interest, if he gets offered a role that Bruce Willis would get offered, he definitely wants to be the action hero. He’s the guy’s guy; he’s all about sports and guy-stuff.”

JM: “Has the TV show in any way detracted from your music career? Now, a lot more people know you for the show than for singing. Has it been a drawback at all as far as the music goes?"

JS: “Right now, in the music career, it’s hard to have a positive experience just because of everything that’s going on with Napster and that kind of stuff. So, I think every artist is struggling, not every artist, but struggling more than they were. For me, I’m proud my album just went gold (2003's "In This Skin"), and that was a huge thing for me, because I wrote it, and it’s like my baby. So, the album is very special to me.

"I think, in the long term, the other career paths that I’ve taken will just enhance my music career. Personally, because I’ll be able to do the kind of music that I would like to do, and not the commercial pop-type of stuff. I mean, I love anything from Norah Jones to Sade. You know, the real singer stuff. So, I hope to step into that eventually.”

JM: “And you’ll write more of your own lyrics in the future?”

JS: “Yeah, absolutely. I love writing my own stuff. In the music industry that’s kind of, you know, you get a lot of credibility for that.”

She is asked by another reporter about Britney and Christina. She is cordial in responding.

"I used to feel pressure from the careers of Britney Spears or Christina Aguilera because we were always, always compared, because we were doing pop music," Simpson said. “But now since the show, I’ve created my own identity in the public eye, which has been the biggest blessing. I had no clue that that was what was going to happen. I’d been praying for a long time that somehow my name would not be in the same sentence as those two girls. I love them dearly, they have great voices, great talent, but right now it feels good to stand alone and to have my own (thing).

“The biggest thing for me, which maybe isn’t the biggest thing for them, is to be a very positive role model. I take that very, very seriously … I’ve been able to use (my position) to hopefully help somebody follow their dreams or make a difference.”

Ditzy blonde.
Pop-star.
Aspiring actress.
Arresting beauty.
Singer, dancer, writer.
“It” celebrity of the moment.

Jessica Simpson is all of the above.

And, yes, Virginia, she is more than tuna fish jokes and Buffalo Wing barbs.

She’s not dumb. She is, however, a girl who misuses big words, and has lived a somewhat sheltered life, at least when it comes to hum-drum everyday doings like making a sandwich. She may not win “Jeopardy!” any time soon, but she can entertain millions of fans with her records, TV shows and musings.

The second season of MTV’s “Newlyweds” kicks off on January 21, 2004.