Ashlee Simpson Insists She Never Felt the Need to 'Be Like' Sister Jessica Despite Following in Her Footsteps
There's no sibling rivalry here!
Though Ashlee Simpson wound up following in her sister Jessica Simpson's singing footsteps, the former claimed she never felt like she was in competition with her older sibling.
Ashlee, 39, discussed their relationship on a new episode of the "Broad Ideas with Rachel Bilson & Olivia Allen" podcast, where she insisted they had more good experiences together than bad.
"At times there were moments, maybe it was on tour, I was like, [waves her hands] 'Hey, look at me over here,' but our relationship, as a whole, has always been very close," the star explained.
The "Shadow" crooner noted they would often hangout together growing up since they had mutual friends, but "I felt like my own person," Ashlee emphasized, revealing she never felt the "need to be like" the fashion designer.
"I think my sister's a really strong person, and she, as well, has been through so much. I think there's a strength there, there's a comfort, there's something no one would understand but us, and I've been so lucky to have that," the "La La" singer continued.
"My mom really would pay attention and see me, like, if I needed something different or like she would make that time, you know ... now that we're all parents we finally get like, the other side," Ashlee added.
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Another thing that gave her strength was her viral 2004 Saturday Night Live lip-syncing moment, which she received endless ridicule for.
"It taught me humility, it taught me so much about myself and my own personal strength," the vocalist explained. "[I had] to find, at a young age, that strength to be like, 'I am good at this and I will keep going, and I will keep fighting.'"
Prior to her performance, her voice was struggling due to an acid reflux flare-up, which is why she wasn't singing live. Ashlee said she learned a lot from the incident, including her realization about "the power of no."
"If I would’ve had that power to really have been like — which I would have now, or looking back — I’d be like, 'I won’t be showing up. Period,'" she stated.
"For me it was like a week of sulking ‘til I had to be like, 'OK, I need to get all these steroids and be able to have my voice and get back on stage and figure this out.' And I feel like I owed that to my fans and myself and that's what I did," Ashlee explained of releasing her second album not long after the episode aired. "The harder part of it for me was everyone bringing it up. I had let it go."