Posted in: NBC, TV | Tagged: saturday night live, snl

SNL 50: Lorne Michaels on That 2004 Ashlee Simpson/Lip-Sync Incident

SNL creator Lorne Michaels reflects on the lip-syncing incident from 2004 musical guest Ashlee Simpson as part of the "nature of live TV."

It's hard to believe that it's been 20 years since the infamous Ashlee Simpson lip-sync debacle on Saturday Night Live in the October 2004 episode hosted by Jude Law. While promoting her debut album, Autobiography, the musician suffered a vocal cord inflammation before the live SNL broadcast, losing her voice. As a contingency, pre-recorded tracks were used so Simpson could lip-sync, but the second track from Autobiography didn't run. Instead, it was "Pieces of Me," which she performed earlier in the night, and out of awkward embarrassment, the artist danced a little "jig" before going off stage. SNL creator Lorne Michaels spoke with 60 Minutes: A Second Look podcast about his honest reaction to the incident.

SNL Creator Lorne Michaels Calls Ashlee Simpson Controversy Part of "The Nature of Live Television"

"Oh, I think accidents happen. I think that's the nature of live television," Michaels told 60 Minutes' Lesley Stahl, who pointed out that his job is to make sure accidents don't happen. "Right," he agreed, "You know, there's things that you're not in control of. It's like the same way you'd feel if you're a ballplayer and it's rained out. It really doesn't have anything to do with you. You don't control the rain. And I think, in this case, it was much more 'what just happened,' which is, I think, what everybody else felt. And I was in the control room going, well, I mean, there's just egg out there now. I mean, there was nothing to watch."

Aside from Simpson's closing credit explanation, the singer and actress provided a more nuanced explanation. "I had done my rehearsal the night before, and then I woke up the next day, and I couldn't speak," Simpson explained to the Broad Ideas With Rachel Bilson & Olivia Allen podcast. "I saw the voice doctor that day, and I had two nodules beating against each other. That day I said, 'I will not go on, I don't care. I can't speak.' Meanwhile, I'm not saying this. I'm writing it down because I can't talk." Simpson's record label insisted on performing the pre-recorded tracks, which she reluctantly agreed with but thought it was a bad idea to explain that her band hadn't rehearsed with the tracks.

Simpson's career did not end after the infamous incident. She released two more albums, 2005's I Am Me and 2008's Bittersweet World, and embarked on film, TV, and stage performances in the musical Chicago. For more, including Stahl asking Michaels about the fallout from the SNL incident, you can check out the 60 Minutes podcast below.

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