Ashlee Simpson is looking back at the painful time time an ex-boyfriend allegedly body–shamed her in the early 2000s.
The 40-year-old singer, Ashlee Simpson who recently celebrated the 20th anniversary of her debut album Autobiography explored the harsh memory while appearing on the podcast series Pod Meets World.
Speaking with the hosts —former Boy Meets World stars Danielle Fishel, Rider Strong and Will Friedle — Ashlee opened up about her writing process and what inspired the songs on the successful project, including a cruel insult from a former lover.
‘I had a boyfriend that was like, “You look fat, you need to get on the treadmill!”‘ she claimed.
Ashlee Simpson said her initial thought after hearing the insult was: ‘Get ready for what I’m about to say [on the album].’
The mother-of-three — who is married to Evan Ross — reflected on how she would relive painful live experiences to fuel her hit songs.
‘For me writing, every day I would go in with my fresh breakup. My fresh boyfriend. It was literally, like, the diary of my life,’ she said.
Ashlee’s album Autobiography was an unprecedented success for her upon its release in July 2004.
The album debut coincided with her MTV reality series The Ashlee Simpson Show, which aired for two seasons from June 2004 to March 2005.
Autobiography was eventually certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, indicating sales of at least three million units, but its commercial success was overshadowed by her infamous Saturday Night Live blunder.
On October 23, 2004, the songstress was caught lip syncing on the legendary comedy show after her band began playing the wrong song and her pre-recorded vocals blared through the speakers, even though she wasn’t moving her mouth.
Visibly shocked by the mistake, Ashlee awkwardly reacted by doing a hoedown dance before the network hastily cut to a commercial.
She later blamed her decision not to sing live on ‘severe acid reflux,’ which had caused her to lose her voice.
On Thursday’s podcast episode, she reflected, ‘I think during that time, I mean, the bullying was insane. That doesn’t mean [I] didn’t write these songs.’
She added, ‘My whole life [I’ve] had to tell people [what happened],’ while noting that she eventually started to ask herself, ‘What am I trying to tell people?’
Pod Meets World teased the episode on Instagram on Thursday by sharing a throwback photo of Ashlee and former Boy Meets World sensation Danielle.
The caption read, ‘NEW EPISODE! Old pals Danielle and @ashleesimpsonross are reunited on the latest Pod Meets World to talk about her upcoming Las Vegas residency, the toxicity of Y2K bullying and their MTV Winter Break of fun.
Ashlee is currently preparing for her Las Vegas residency I Am Me, which has dates in late August and September.
She wrote to her Instagram followers this week, ‘Rehearsals are done! I can’t wait to share this show with you in 10 days!’