Jessica Simpson Sacks Publicist  9/8/06

Pop star Jessica Simpson has fired her longtime publicist Rob Shuter after last week's (ends03SEP06) debacle surrounding her supposed relationship with John Mayer.

Both People and Us Weekly magazines ran cover stories suggesting the pair were dating and People even quoted Simpson as saying, "I'm in love!"

According to news website TMZ, reports began surfacing this week (beg04SEP06) that Mayer was furious with the coverage and felt used by the Simpson camp to help boost album sales.

Simpson appeared on US talk show The View Tuesday (05SEP06), where she desperately tried to do some damage control stating, "I am actually not dating John Mayer."

Sources tell TMZ the Simpson camp had been unhappy with Shuter for some time and that the Mayer fiasco "was the last straw" in a series of events leading up to the sacking.

Mayer posted a message on his official website last Thursday (31AUG06), soon after the story broke saying simply, "Really enjoying this song" above a picture for Public Enemy's hit Don't Believe the Hype.