Ashlee Simpson (born Ashlee Nicole Simpson on October 3, 1984) appeared in a commercial for Kohl's departments, was in an episode of "Malcolm in the Middle", appeared in the movie "The Hot Chick", and was also the character Cecilia, Simon Camden's girlfriend on the TV show "7th Heaven" from 2002 to 2004, until her singing career began.
Ashlee Simpson (now professionally known as Ashlee Simpson-Wentz after her marriage to Pete Wentz) was actually born Ashley Nicole Simpson. I'm not quite sure why she changed the spelling, but she did. To me, Ashlee seems even more masculine than Ashley. Lee, while occasionally used for girls as a middle name, is more often given as a first name to males (although there are a few exceptions). So the people who use this spelling to make the name seem more "feminine" aren't real geniuses.