Do you remember when a Christmas Special was a way to give back to the fans? Bob Hope, John Denver and the Muppets. Johnny Cash brought his extended family onstage and to living rooms across the country through the end of the Seventies.
Flash forward to 2010, where Detroit Public Television is producing Jessica Simpson's Christmas Special. The special is timed to coincide with the release of her new album, "Happy Christmas," her second Christmas album, out of eight total albums. This makes Christmas music a quarter of Jessica Simpson's entire music career. Gotta respect that. In fact, you'd think with all that background, Jessica would appreciate the meaning of Christmas.
But news from the Roseland Ballroom, where they shot the special last Thursday, was not-at-all festive. On the night of the show, Jessica's father and manager, Joe Simpson, axed the invited act 4Troops, a group of four Army vets whose songs feature patriotic themes, because he found their appearance too "scruffy." A source told the NY Post's Page Six, "They were in camo pants and blazers, the same outfits they wore to sing for Gen. David Petraeus on the USS Intrepid," but not good enough for Joe Simpson. "They were told they couldn't perform unless they were wearing tuxedos."
Former Sgt. Daniel Jens, 4Troops member and spokesman, told the Post "Joe should be ashamed of himself. I am so disappointed and angry, I threw up when I got back to my room."
A Simpson representative made a firm denial. "The song was cut due to time. Jessica wasn't even aware. She just returned from the Persian Gulf where she performed for and met with service men and women stationed at several different locations ... The military was the source of inspiration for her entire Christmas album." Regardless, 4Troops had to travel to New York for the recording, and prepare a very early repertoire of Christmas music. It is unclear whether Joe Simpson knows that the US military does not wear tuxedos in the battlefield.
U.S. Army photo by PFC. David J. Marshall
Yesterday, 4Troops posted a note on "how disappointed they are at this turn of events" on their website, where we hope they will post their own Christmas video.
Jessica, from Christmas cash-in '04:
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It is equally unclear whether Paul Snyder realizes that "camo pants and blazers" (blazers?) are not worn by servicemen to formal functions. Perhaps he's never heard of a Class A uniform, but an army vet would understand the meaning. Then again, if they weren't told that the event was formal, they can't be faulted for not appearing in appropriate attire.
I do know about Class A uniforms, but it's also clear that they were not asked to wear them. So I think we agree. It seems to me that being rejected from something based on your appearance is only okay if you've been told there were rules in the first place. And which part of Jessica Simpson's career would make somebody assume that performing with her is a "formal function"?
I can think of only one possible solution to this, and that is that Jessica Simpson must perform live at an event which includes 4Troops, preferably they would perform together.