Simpson Sidelined With Vocal Strain

(AP)  Talk about bad timing. At the start of a media blitz to support her new album, "A Public Affair," Jessica Simpson is on vocal rest.

"It is true that she has indeed lost her voice," Simpson's publicist, Rob Shuter, told The Associated Press on Tuesday. "She's been ordered to rest. ... She can talk, she can croak out a few sentences. She sounds a little off, but, you know, she can't sing."

Simpson, 26, fell ill Friday and has "a strain, a bruise on her vocal cord," Shuter told the AP.

She canceled a planned appearance on CBS' "Late Show With David Letterman" this week but was to appear on MTV's "Total Request Live" on Tuesday afternoon to promote the album — but not sing, Shuter said.

Simpson hopes her condition improves by Friday, when she is scheduled to perform on NBC's "Today" show, he said.

"She's trying," Shuter said. "Everybody is hoping and keeping their fingers crossed."