Simpson Shows Publicist the Door

It turns out Jessica Simpson and John Mayer's hot romance was only taking place in Wonderland.

And Rob Shuter will no longer be playing the role of Fairy Godmother.

Simpson's manager dad, Joe Simpson, gave his daughter's publicist the heave-ho this week, reportedly because the elder Simpson's quite perturbed about the way Shuter put the spin on his little girl's burgeoning relationship with Mayer, with a People magazine cover story Aug. 31 touting Jessica's declaration that she was in love eventually turning into an Us Weekly cover pronouncing the singer "Dumped!"

Which must have come as a surprise to Simpson, considering she went on The View this week and announced, "I am actually not dating John Mayer." (Isn't it hard enough getting dumped by the people you actually are going out with?)

A source close to the hullabaloo told Radar magazine that the overblown story was "100 percent Shuter. He broke all the rules of the game. He's a pathological liar. I wonder how much Jessica even knew what he was up to."

Simpson then issued a statement Friday afternoon, via Shuter no less, saying, "I did not fire Rob Shuter," which does not necessarily negate the notion that her dad did the firing, and adding, "he is a great publicist and a great friend." All of which may be true.

A call to Shuter, who has since confirmed to TMZ.com that he is no longer representing Simpson, was not immediately returned. Radar and TMZ were the first to report the split.

Meanwhile, the latest issue of Star points the finger at Joe Simpson and an Epic Records executive who allegedly cultivated the romance in the media to add to the buzz surrounding the release of Simpson's latest album, A Public Affair, which ended up moving more than 100,000 copies its first week out and landed at number five on the Billboard 200, her biggest chart debut to date although expectations for its performance had been higher.

An Epic spokeswoman called the accusation that the label was somehow involved "ludicrous." Joe Simpson also denied having a hand in the hype.

(Someone should put out a release reminding people that it's just the title of an album, not a way of life.)

While the People story didn't feature Joe actually confirming that there was a love connection between Simpson and Mayer, he did tell the magazine, "I love John Mayer?If my daughter's happy, then I'm happy. And if she's in love, then I'm in love with the fact that she finds happiness. It's been a tough year for her."

Both People and Us Weekly, which also reported on the supposed hook-up last week, have stood by their reporting.

Meanwhile, Mayer's camp is turning this into a Simpson-only affair. A "friend" of the Heavier Things singer said in Us' Sept. 18 issue that Mayer is distancing himself from his brief fling and "now he will stay away from her?He thinks it's desperate. An attempt for her to stay in the spotlight."

"It's very clear to John who was pushing this story," another Mayer-man said. On his Website this week, Mayer conspicuously featured the Public Enemy track "Don't Believe the Hype" with the caption: "Really enjoying this song right now."

Someone from Simpson's side of things told the new issue of Us that the 25-year-old divorcée "met a guy who was scared away by all the attention."

Yet another helpful confidante told Life & Style this week that Simpson is "really upset that something she hoped would work out has fizzled."

Actually, what you're hearing is a splat.

(Originally published Sept. 7, 2006 at 6:35 p.m. PT.)