Ashlee Simpson reflects on her decision to refuse her father’s request that she wear a purity ring as a pre-teen.
the “Pieces of Me” singer, 39, said on a new episode of the podcast Broad Ideas with Rachel Bilson and Olivia Allen that as a child she was an “independent soul” who refused Papa Joe’s encouragement to remain a virgin until marriage.
“I would come off as a lot more rebellious than I actually was, because I was like, ‘Oh no, I’m not going to do that,'” she said of her defiant streak. “I would see my dad say, ‘Oh, you can’t talk to that guy. Here’s a ring to save yourself.’ He tried to give me one at 12, and I said, ‘Oh, no, thanks. I’m not going to tell you when I’m going to have sex.’”
Simpson continued: “And meanwhile, I never did [have sex] until I was 17, but I always wanted it to be open so you didn’t know what I was doing.”
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Ashlee Simpson in Los Angeles on February 4, 2024.
John Salangsang/Billboard via Getty Images
The Purity ring symbolizes a commitment to sexual abstinence before marriage, and was worn by stars such as the Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus and Jordin Sparks at the beginning of their careers.
Simpson’s sister Jessica famously wore one and kept her vow of celibacy before marriage, telling PEOPLE in 2000 that virginity was “something I’m firm about.”
In the podcast, the star talked about the ways in which she and Jessica, 43, were different as children and how their mom Tina, 64, tried to raise them to their unique strengths.
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“My mom would really pay attention and see me if I needed something different, and she would last that long. And now that we’re all parents, we’re finally getting the other side,” Simpson said. “Growing up, I was really an independent soul and wanted to love, do my own effing thing. They had to let me be free and have that moment, or at least feel free. And sometimes too freely.”
Simpson is now a mom of three; she shares her son Bronx (15) with her ex-husband Pete Wentz, and she has a daughter Jagger (8) and a son Ziggy (3) with her husband Evan Ross, whom she married in 2014.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education