The new “Masked Singer” winner tells EW the 2004 TV incident “shaped me as the person I am now,” but didn’t define her as an artist.

Ashlee Simpson is ready to return to SNL after lip-sync scandal: ‘It’s something I can laugh about’ (exclusive)

The new "Masked Singer" winner tells EW the 2004 TV incident "shaped me as the person I am now," but didn't define her as an artist.

By Jillian Sederholm

Jillian Sederholm

Jillian Sederholm is news director at *. *She has worked at EW for more than eight years. Jillian has previously worked as a reporter, social media editor, and homepage producer at NBC News, Digital First Media, Newsday, and Random Lengths News.

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April 3, 2026 5:03 p.m. ET

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Musical guest Ashlee Simpson on 'Saturday Night Live' on Oct. 23, 2004. Credit:

Dana Edelson/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty

Fresh off her triumph as the *The Masked Singer* season 14 winner, Ashlee Simpson is finally ready to laugh off that *other* past TV musical performance after two decades.

In a final clue package hinting at the identity of Galaxy Girl in the masked singing competition's April 1 finale, the contestant revealed a moment from her past had "changed everything," revealing, "I was publicly humiliated, called a fraud, a fake. It was devastating. I was so young and I thought it would define me forever."

Simpson confirms to ** during an exit interview that the clue was indeed about her infamous 2004 incident on *SNL *where during her second performance —meant to be "Autobiography" — vocals for her earlier song, "Pieces of You," began playing as the 20-year-old awkwardly danced before exiting the stage altogether without actually singing anything. It led to accusations that she was lip-syncing both songs and dominated the conversation about her for years to come.

"Now it's something I can laugh about," Simpson, now 41, tells EW. "It's something I've been through, so it's not something I look at like I'm going through anymore. It's a part of my young adulthood and what kind of shaped me as the person I am now."

Ashlee Simpson attends Shein Festival House on March 24, 2026.

Monica Schipper/Getty

She continues, "I think that [in] life, sometimes you need a little fight in you. So that definitely gave me that."

Many people forget that Simpson returned to *SNL *the very next season to prove she could sing live, but her performances of "Catch Me When I Fall" and "Boyfriend" on the Oct. 8, 2005, episode failed to overshadow her earlier mishap. Now, she says she'd welcome the chance to take the stage at Studio 8H again.

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"Oh, yeah. I would definitely go back," she says, though not to prove anything this time. "That chapter is behind me and I never looked at myself as that moment defined me. Right after that, I went on tour and everything."

Her *Masked Singer *victory has proven her vocal chops for anyone still doubting and reignited her passion for performing in front of a television audience after all this time.

"Doing a show like this 20-something years later, it's so fun," she says. "I mean, for me, it's something that I kept doing. I kept touring. I, a girl that loves theater and live music and everything. So I think for me, it was never to let that one moment define me and who I was as an artist and a performer."

Jessica Simpson and winner Ashlee Simpson as Galaxy Girl on 'The Masked Singer'.

Michael Becker/ FOX

Simpson's sister, Jessica Simpson, appeared on *The Masked Singer *finale to help her sibling make the final reveal. Her husband, Evan Ross, son of Diana Ross, also competed on the same season, as the character Stingray.

Simpson says the couple were each approached about doing the show separately and, although they were both aware the other was on the season, due to the rules they did not see each other on set at all.

"I knew my husband was on set, but I didn't know what he was singing or when he was in rehearsal or whatever, because we weren't allowed to see each other," she explains. "Sometimes at home I could hear the song he's working on or he could hear the song I'm working on, but we're in different rooms. The idea that both of us were in this secret world at the same time and it was gonna be fun for our kids to see was exciting."

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Source: “EW SNL”