Is Jessica Simpson really dumb?

Is Jessica Simpson Really Dumb?
by Daniel R. Coleridge

Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson

You have too been watching MTV's Newlyweds. Don't front! With their careers as pop stars on shaky ground, hunky 98 Degrees dude Nick Lachey and 'dumb blonde' Jessica Simpson signed on for a reality TV show about their marriage. Some grumps called this a desperate grab for publicity. Well, maybe so, but Newlyweds is the second-highest rated cable show after Sex and the City. And it's just been renewed by MTV for a second season. Joe Simpson — Jessica's dad, personal manager and executive producer — is one proud papa. Even if the show's portrayal of his sloppy, doofy, primadonna daughter isn't very flattering.

'What's happening here is Jessica knows she's on camera,' he insists to TV Guide Online. 'Since she was a little girl, people have been calling her a dumb blonde, [so] she begins to assume the role that everybody expects of her. That doesn't mean that's who she is. It's a part of her personality, but it's one that she's enhancing on the show. It's nothing that's not real, but she unintentionally exaggerates.'

Uh huh. While clearly biased, Joe denies Jessica's TV antics are spoiling her image for fans. Instead, he generously compares her comedic talent to Lucille Ball's. He also thinks her imperfections are boosting her likeability (and album sales). 'We did the show because everybody had seen Jessica as only a Barbie doll, because she does have beauty that separates her from the average person. She has a six octave range, so she also has a voice that not everybody [has]. So a lot of America didn't relate to her. We did this show so that people would see that, hey, she's just a normal kid.'

Perhaps, but she sure is a pampered kid, accustomed to maid service and having her own way about things! Watching Nick scold Jessie for her slovenly ways is a guilty pleasure. 'She'll never like cleaning,' Joe admits. 'Jessica always had someone else to do that, so she didn't have to. And she didn't go away to college — which is the first place kids begin to take responsibility — because she was on the road [singing]. Her marriage is her college experience.' — Additional reporting by Rochell Thomas