Jessica Simpson says she faced teen weight-loss pressure

During a concert in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, on Thursday, June 11, singer Jessica Simpson candidly recounted the intense pressure she faced as a teenage pop star to conform to a specific image, including being told to lose weight while weighing only 115 pounds. The 45-year-old performer shared these experiences with the audience as part of her current tour.

Simpson described being signed to Columbia Records at age 17 amid the success of contemporaries Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. She initially believed she was signed for her voice, but was soon told by label executives she needed to lose 15 pounds. By her second album, 2001's "Irresistible," she said she was told she needed to have a six-pack, a physique she felt was unattainable for her body type.

"There were just all these things that I had to be to be Jessica Simpson, or the version of Jessica Simpson they believed I should be to be successful," Simpson said. She admitted she "always felt like a failure" and "never good enough" during that era, feeling she had to emulate the dance-pop style of her peers despite her own preferences.

The singer contrasted those early struggles with her current chapter, expressing joy...