From Ausiello:

The countdown to the inevitable Pete Wentz cameo has begun!

Multiple sources confirm that singer-songwriter-sometime actress Ashlee Simpson has become the latest tenant of The CW's refurbished Melrose Place.

The onetime 7th Heaven star will play small-town girl Violet, a character whose disarming naiveté masks the calculating, shrewd sex kitten within. In other words, the little tramp's Sydney.

Simpson joins a cast that so far includes Katie Cassidy (as ambitious publicist Ella), Michael Rady (as aspiring filmmaker Jonah), and, if there is a God, original Melrose icon Heather Locklear, who would be slipping back into Amanda Woodward's office microminis. "Both sides are talking," whispers my Melrose mole of Locklear. "It's looking good."

Melrose 2.0, which is considered a lock to land a spot on The CW's fall sked (most likely on Tuesdays after 90210), is being shepherded by Smallville's Darren Swimmer and Todd Slavkin. Oscar winner Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth) has been tapped to direct the pilot.

Anything to keep her from singing.

;)

That is sick, she is a horrible actress. This show keeps getting worse and worse. If they are going to do this, I wish they would just start fresh and not try to copy each original character. As if there could ever be another Amanda or Sydney.

http://www.nickiswift.com/48064/real-reason-dont-hear-ashlee-simpson-anymore/

She was written off of 'Melrose Place'

In 2009, the LA Times (http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-hollywood-headlines-melrose-photo.html) announced that Simpson had been cast as series regular Violet Fosteron on the CW remake of Melrose Place. However, her performance faced negative criticism and her character was eventually written off (http://gazettereview.com/2016/03/what-happened-to-ashlee-simpson-update/) the show after only 12 episodes.

According to an anonymous on-set source who tattled to Us Weekly (http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/jessica-simpson-calls-melrose-place-crap-after-ashlee-is-fired-2009211), "They hired her because they needed a good name to help create buzz. But she was embarrassingly bad. Producers cut her down as much as possible." The publication further documented that sister Jessica Simpson was outraged by the news, which inspired a Twitter tirade: "CW catching up on MP. who writes this crap? i have had bad scripts to work with,but this? thank God my sister is amazing and got you some press."

However, the producers claimed this was always the plan. As MTV News (http://www.mtv.com/news/1624515/ashlee-simpson-off-of-melrose-place/) notes, Executive Producer Todd Slavkin explained Simpson's character "would be instrumental" as a suspect in the murder mystery, and that once it "was solved, she would go on her way. That was the original plan going into the development of the show."

Simpson released this statement in support: "Having the chance to play Violet on 'Melrose Place' has been a thrill. Although I always knew her story would come to a final, insanely unpredictable end, playing a creepy, unstable character was something I always wanted to do, so I jumped at the chance. Thanks to the CW and the entire cast and crew of 'Melrose Place' for allowing me this opportunity!"

Read More: http://www.nickiswift.com/48064/real-reason-dont-hear-ashlee-simpson-anymore/?utm_campaign=clip

The Melrose Place reboot was awful. I don't think it was Ashlee's fault.