Thursday, September 21, 2006

Joe Simpson likes to photograph his daughters

Jessica and Ashlee Simpson's dad, Joe Simpson, has reportedly become a paparazzi to make some side cash and to influence how his daughters are portrayed in the media.
According to sources who've had recent dealings with him, Simpson has a tight working arrangement with WireImage, the mega-agency and wire service that rules the red-carpet at nearly every high-profile event in the western hemisphere. On several occasions, a camera-wielding Simpson has gone toe-to-toe with other snappers 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 racy) shots of his daughters on family getaways or in other putatively private moments.
Needless to say, other photographers aren't happy. One recalled being invited to cover an event sponsored by Jessica's record label, Epic, only to find her shots blocked again and again 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. Though the freelancer did manage to get some clean shots, Joe's were the only ones WireImage deemed worthy of being distributed.
So basically Joe Simpson has gone from talking about his daughters' breasts to photographing them with a camera. If he keeps this up he'll be a shoe in to sweep at this year's World's Creepiest Dads Awards. He would've had it last year but then there was that one guy with the basement and the penguin, and really, he just deserved to win