In a press release touting last night's interview with creepy showbiz papa Joe Simpson, "Access Hollywood" claims that Ashlee Simpson's upcoming appearance on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" will mark the first time she's performed for a television audience since last October's lip-syncing fiasco on "Saturday Night Live." According to the release, Papa Joe himself stated during the interview that "Oprah" is "going to be the first interview and the first place where Ashlee sings."

As B&C Beat points out, this is pure crap:

Wait, wait, wait. Ashlee Simpson already performed in front of a television audience after SNL -- at the Orange Bowl on Jan. 4, 2005. It was just three months later -- and Simpson was soundly booed. Remember?

What even B&C Beat forgets, however, is that the Orange Bowl was at least her second TV performance after "SNL." Her first came just two days after "SNL" on the October 25th live broadcast of the Radio Music Awards on NBC. As every viewer knew immediately, she definitely didn't lip-sync that night.

All of this means that her upcoming performance on "Oprah" will be at least her third TV performance since becoming a national laughing stock, making her father (a former minister) a big fat liar.

Oh, and the "first interview" part? That's a complete fabrication, too.

On October 25th and 26th alone, no less than three separate interviews with Ashlee Simpson aired on national television. On the afternoon of the 25th, she spoke live via telephone with MTV's "TRL." The next morning, Katie Couric interviewed her on NBC's "Today" show, while the lead story on that evening's "Entertainment Tonight" was an interview that Kevin Frazier conducted with her backstage at the Radio Music Awards the previous night.

I would complain about the poor research conducted by "Access Hollywood," but what do you expect from a show anchored by Sugar Ray?

[B&C Beat] Ashlee, Don't Forget the Orange Bowl