Joe Simpson wants to put daughters Jessica and Ashlee in pictures – his pictures. Radar online reports that the singers’ dad/manager has become a part-time paparazzo in order to control how his daughters are portrayed in the media.
According to Radar, the Simpson patriarch has struck up an arrangement with WireImage, the wire service that dominates red-carpet and high-profile events. On several occasions, a camera-wielding Simpson has been seen running interference with other photographers for shots of his own daughters, then approved only his own images for distribution through WireImage. At other times, he has provided the agency with exclusive (and even risqué!) photographs of his daughters on family getaways.
Needless to say, other photographers aren’t thrilled with the new arrangement. One shutterbug recounts being invited to cover an event only to find her shots repeatedly blocked by Joe and his Nikon. “I thought it was really odd that he was always in my way, since I was the one who was paid to be there shooting,” she says. And when the freelance snapper finally did get some shots, Joe’s were the only ones WireImage deemed worthy of distribution.
Us Weekly
Tue, Sep 19, 2006
Ashlee Simpson, Jessica Simpson