Ashlee Simpson Sacked

Ashlee Simpsonhas been kicked off Melrose Place after only twelve episodes.

In a weird turn of events, show producer, Todd Slavkin, is saying Ash knew she'd only be filming a dozen episodes all along – which, if you ask us, kinda jars with all the breathy promotion she did in the lead-up to the show.

Ash was given the chop alongside co-star, Colin Egglesfield.

When asked how the pair took the news, Slavkin replied: "They're total professionals and they took it like professionals. When you go into a show you never know what's going to evolve and what the possibilities are."

Note, he didn't say: "They knew they were only filming twelve episodes all along."

Explaining in more depth, the producer said: "We always knew that this murder mystery (involving Ash's character Violet) would end in episode 12. And we always knew that Violet would be instrumental in that as a suspect...

"We felt that once the murder mystery was resolved, the tone of the show was going to shift into a much more fun, romantic, sexy upbeat kind of show, and [Ashlee's] character would move on."

Asked whether he'd have kept La Simpson on the payroll if her character had been more popular, Slavkin replied: "Well, you never know when you go along. But in the end, we felt like it was right [decision]."

Poor, old Ash. Maybe she could hang out with Mischa Barton until the next job pops up...