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It's been too long since last we heard from Ashlee Simpson, who true to form has rebounded with flying colors from her last public humiliation a curious reversal of the traditional pop star/fan relationship at MTV Japan in that it was she who told them "I love you guys!" before promptly passing out. But journey with us for a moment to the humiliation before that (we know, we know, so many), when a soused Simpson was caught on video hijacking a Toronto McDonald's, and in doing so finally giving those "nice" Canadians an in-your-face dose of what makes America great! In her recent Seventeen cover profile, Simpson addresses the incident:

"I was being a little, you know, silly and crazy that day," Ashlee told the mag. "I was laughing and joking around, and the guy behind me in line was like, 'Uh, you're gross' but he didn't know who I was until I turned around. ... So then he was like, 'Can I have my picture with you?' And I was like, 'Dude, you called me gross!' " (In the clip, Simpson tells him she won't take a picture with him because he won't kiss her feet).


Simpson said she wasn't aware that the camera was rolling the whole time, and she regrets the way it makes her look ("They definitely [edited] stuff together"). But she thinks her McDonald's moment has only made her stronger, because it forced her to deal with public expectations yet again. "I feel it was a moment of growing up," she said. "Most people do that in college mine has to be done in front of the world."

At least we finally have her side of the story, and frankly, we're buying it. One person's "silly and crazy" can often come across as "wasted and belligerent" on a grainy video feed, in much the same way "laughing and joking around," can be misconstrued as a "climbing over the service counter, as you bark at an employee, 'Bitch, stop talking to me!'" We're just relieved Simpson has managed to find the silver lining and grow from the incident no doubt it will inform several tracks on her next album as opposed to simply giving in to what all her critics expect of her and, you know, like, apologizing.