Is It Live or Is It Recorded, Ashlee?
Managing Singer’s Reputation after SNL Performance
Facts:
In the early years of Ashlee Simpson’s rise to fame as a pop star, her shining career faced a crucial turning point one Saturday night. With her debut album at number one on the Billboard’s Top 200 Albums Chart, her career seemed to be in an unstoppable upward skyrocket. She was scheduled to perform on Saturday Night Live (SNL). As she prepared to sing her second hit song of the evening, the crowd witnessed her band playing along to the song they had heard previously, along with Simpson’s prerecorded vocals through the speakers of the previous song. Noticeably embarrassed, Simpson danced her way offstage.
After the show, Simpson immediately blamed her band for playing the wrong track and apologized for the shortcomings of “live TV” by saying, “things happen!” (Swann, 200). Two days after the SNL performance, she joked about the incident during her Radio Music Awards performance and announced through her website that she would be featured in an interview on NBC’s Today Show by Katie Couric to discuss her SNL stint. By that time, thousands of people had posted comments on Simpson’s webpage. After the interview on Today Show, her drummer confirmed Simpson’s explanation on her website. Then Simpson posted a thank you to her fans for their support on her website, asserting the SNL incident was beyond her control. In addition, she signed off the post declaring she would prove all the negative press wrong. A couple of days later, her mother, her manager father and her pop star sister, Jessica Simpson, were interviewed.
The interview mainly focused on her father Joe Simpson’s choice to manage both of his daughters’ careers, and also mentioned the SNL controversy, playing clips and airing her public statements regarding the incident. The family spoke in defense of Ashlee.
Issue:
The performance expected to be live due to the show’s reputation, and Simpson ignited skepticism toward the entire music industry by publicly introducing the question of whether or not all musical artists are lip-syncing during their “live shows.” Simpson deceived an audience of her own followers and SNL fans, and failed to take responsibility for that fact. She even blamed others and insisted that other artists do what she did. The stunt not only influenced her reputation as an artist, but it also jeopardized the credibility of both SNL and other musical performers.
Assessment:
The plan to feature rising star Ashlee Simpson on SNL seemed to be foolproof, but to err is human, indeed. Simpson’s recovery strategy was flawed. In regard to communicating in public relations, Think emphasizes the importance of initiating early dialogue (Wilcox, 53). Simpson waited two days after her SNL performance to explain what happened. Prior to this, she blamed her drummer for making a mistake, rather than admitting that she had done something wrong; in fact, Simpson posted an explanation (of her medical reasons for singing to prerecorded music) on her website—not an apology, but a rather bold comment saying that her “real fans” support her. She added, “I couldn’t control what happened that day,” referring to her lip-syncing scandal (Swann, 202).
Simpson’s stunt reflected badly on the reputation of SNL, as well as affiliated musicians’, and most importantly her own reputation. “Many consumers suspect evil motives […] and tend to enjoy gossip and believe rumors” (Wilcox, 208). The fact that Simpson deflected her own mistakes toward other musical performers was another bad move. According to Cases in Public Relations Management, Simpson’s incident “made the 20-year-old Simpson a pop culture laughingstock but also angered many music fans that expect only live performances from SNL. The program has thrived for 30 years and attracted millions of fans because of its reputation for topical sketches and popular musical acts, all live in front of an in-studio audience” (Swann, 200). The stunt also “raised larger questions and speculation about the music industry itself. If Ashlee Simpson was lip-syncing, then what about other supposedly ‘live’ performances?” (Swann, 201). This move could potentially damage Simpson’s relationships with other musical artists and prevent collaborative success.
The positive steps Simpson’s team made in their recovery efforts included keeping her scheduled appearances, like the NBC Radio Music Awards. There, she poked fun at herself, spoofing her snafu from SNL onstage. Afterward, she scheduled an interview with the “sympathetic” Katie Couric (Swann, 201). During the interview, Simpson expressed that she did not actually blame the band, and even said she “loved” the drummer who had made the mistake. Another positive step was the post from her drummer in defense of Simpson on her site, affirming he had made a mistake. He even told critics to listen closely to the first performance to verify the star had been singing to her own voice on the backup track. This statement not only reinforces Simpson’s explanation and asserts that this was a first and only situation, but also challenges critics to watch the SNL scene over again, ushering more attention to the show. After this, Simpson thanked her fans for support and confirmed that she planned to “go back out there and continue to prove all the negative press wrong” (Swann, 202). This statement implies special effort in future performances, enticing skeptical fans to continue to follow her. The final positive step she made in dealing with this situation was bringing her entire family to the ABC 20/20 interview—this gesture must have added to her credibility. Her sister, Jessica Simpson, a pop star herself, brings credibility as an opinion leader. Her father is Ashlee’s manager and promoter, so his testimony was significantly and genuinely supportive of her position.
All publicity is good publicity, right?
Getting visibility is one of the main goals of public relations; both Ashlee Simpson’s brand and SNL gained substantial attention from her performance. What was expected to be fruitless backstage B-Roll caught by CBS’s 60 Minutes crew turned out to be relevant newsworthy material. The performance was certainly watched and re-watched by both critics and supporters. As Cases points out, Ashlee Simpson’s website displayed a noteworthy amount of traffic in the wake of her SNL appearance. According to Cases, there were thousands of fans posting comments on Simpson’s website after the incident. In addition to the surplus of media and fan attention, Ashlee’s very famous sister, Jessica Simpson made an appearance in support of her sister on a television interview. As a successful pop singer in her own right, Jessica Simpson can be considered an opinion leader. Opinion leaders “help frame and define issues that have their roots in individuals’ self interests. It is through the influence of opinion leaders that public opinion often crystallizes into a measureable entity” (Wilcox, 162).
Ashlee Simpson’s continuous public presence seemed to give her more time to sort out the controversy that surrounded her. After the spectacle, her scheduled public appearances combined with the negative press gave Simpson a social platform to explain and excuse herself for what happened on SNL. In the end, her image became more complex and controversial—she became a topic for speculation and conversation. Therefore, perhaps this controversy ended up having a positive effect on her publicity; the positive and negative aspects of the stunt on Simpson’s image is still debatable, and therefore more interesting.
My Solution:
Ideally, Simpson would have immediately taken full responsibility for her sub par performance instead of blaming her crew. Her obviously unplanned reaction included a very public placement of blame on one of her band members for exposing her façade of a performance. She did apologize, but the apology was clearly for getting caught in the act, rather than for deceiving the audience. Days later, after assessing the damage to her reputation and SNL’s credibility, Simpson’s camp constructed a plan to revive her career and turn the situation into a positive one. Think mentions that how an organization reacts within the first 24 hours after an “incident” occurs determines whether or not it will become a crisis or not. Simpson’s mistake did not turn into a crisis. She did the right thing by including the words “I’m sorry” in her initial statement. After hearing those words, the public was willing to listen further. Of course, it would have been ideal for the singer to explain her “medical condition” and to empathize with her audience right away for appearing to be lip-syncing her performance, but instead, her team had to experience the resulting backlash to recognize that the issue needed to be resolved. Fortunately for Simpson’s team, their public relations strategy not only resulted in spotlight for the pop star, but also, arguably a sizeable increase in views for the SNL show after it aired.
Apologizing is not Simpson’s strong suit. There was absolutely no remorse for her own behavior accompanying the words “I’m sorry.” If there had to be more words than “I’m sorry,” Simpson should have been counseled to apologize correctly. Apology, Recognition, and Reconciliation explains, “for an apology to be meaningful it must at minimum recognize that an injustice has been done and convey an expression of remorse and an acceptance of responsibility for the suffering and harms that have resulted” (Murphy, 50). Simpson’s fans would most likely be more forgiving if the star had displayed some humility. “It is especially important that apologies be offered without verbal equivocation, qualifications, or excuses, and without an air of reluctance” (Murphy, 50). Simpson “apologized” reluctantly at first, and later, redesigned her apology into an excuse. This shortcoming reflects poorly on her character, and should have been addressed by her publicist.
Today, it is common for celebrities to publicly apologize via Twitter, a social media vehicle that facilitates quick communication between a celebrity and their following. Twitter would have provided a simple, instantaneous method of apologizing straight to fans, before they began “un-following” Simpson on the site. According to research, “celebrities use Twitter to reach out to fans and make their relationship with them more ‘real’” (Stever, 350). A less-sincere apology might seem a bit more direct and sincere if it were delivered through Twitter, straight to Simpson’s fans. This technology also allows fans to “become better known to the celebrities whom they follow” (Stever, 341). Twitter is an ideal tool for environmental scanning, receiving feedback, and for delivering apologies to shareholders immediately.
References:
Murphy, M. (2011). Apology, Recognition, and Reconciliation. Human Rights Review, 12(1), 47-69. doi:10.1007/s12142-010-0166-7
Stever, G. S., & Lawson, K. (2013). Twitter as a Way for Celebrities to Communicate with Fans: Implications for the Study of Parasocial Interaction. North American Journal Of Psychology.
Swann, Patricia. (2010). Cases in Public Relations Management. Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.
Wilcox, Dennis L., Cameron, Glen T., Reber, Bryan H., & Shin, Jae-Hwa. (2011). Think Public Relations. Allyn & Bacon
Olivia Barton 