An Open Letter to Ashlee Simpson

Dear Ashlee,

I guess by now you've heard of H.O.P.E. How couldn't you have? Your career, and the subsequent CD exchange we've offered to counter it as well as petition we’ve helped spear-head for Geffen to drop you (there’s been 300,000 signatures in the first week), has led to 5,000,000 hits on our website in the last month and coverage across the globe in every major news source including features on CNN, CNBC, NBC, CBS, ABC, the BBC and in Rolling Stone, USA Today, People, The National Enquirer, and Newsweek. At the very least, I'm quite sure your "people" are aware of us. Nothing like having CAA and Time Warner breathing down my neck to make us realize that you, Ashlee, are only a small part of the problem.

Understand one thing Ashlee, we don't have anything against you personally... even with all of the lying and cover ups about everything from your "acid reflux" on SNL, to claiming it was only angry Oklahoma fans booing you off the stage at the Orange Bowl. We know you are simply the pawn in this scenario, with Geffen/AOL Time Warner shoving your music down everyone's throats, your stage father hijacking your child hood, and a whole litany of entertainment types who certainly should be taking a good share of the blame as well.

But things are getting ugly Ash. You've already been involved in the two most embarrassing moments in music I've seen in my lifetime, and are clearly becoming an international joke of historic proportions. This is no way to live a life. Here's the good news though: you're still young enough to get out and start over. You've gone on record as saying you never thought you had a good voice or that you could be a singer, so leaving now only confirms what you already believed. Instead of embarking on this disastrous new tour, tell the world this was all just a big mistake, quit the business, and go do the very normal things you were born to do.

Ashlee, your career is going to be over soon enough one way or the other. Even if Geffen and Time Warner continue to back you in the face of a public that demands you be gone, performers of your variety have a very short shelf life to begin with, let alone ones who have become a national laughing stock, have no musical ability, and are no longer profitable or commercially viable.

Take the high road, make a stand by telling the true story behind what went on with your career and why, and leave a business you never really wanted to get into in the first place. Show everyone that you're more than just a product and a puppet and 20 years from now, people will know Ashlee Simpson as a brave, classy, girl who stood up for her beliefs... not just as Jessica's lip-synching sister. For a girl portraying herself as "punk", let me tell you, that's as punk as you get.

And who knows, maybe one day you'll find a true love for music, hone your craft and go to an open mike night at some hole in the wall bar. Maybe when you get there you'll wait in a line like everyone else; with all of the people who have been scraping by and sacrificing just for the opportunity to make great music and do what they love. And maybe then you'll understand exactly why we are doing this and why a girl who never wanted to be a singer never really was one to begin with.

Sincerely,

Chris Jackson

H.O.P.E. Founder