Ashlee Simpson

Ashlee's New "Boyfriend"

By Chris Strauss

UPDATED 09/19/2005 at 01:00 AM EDT • Originally published 09/19/2005 at 01:00 AM EDT

While older sister Jessica grabbed plenty of attention for her saucy scrubbing of the General Lee in "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'," Ashlee Simpson isn't planning any such moving violations for her new video. Cruising around downtown Los Angeles in a vintage black Mustang during filming of the clip for "Boyfriend," she skips the suds for a soap-opera plot. "The concept is that I stole somebody's boyfriend, but there's no real proof of it," Simpson, 20, says of the video for the first single from her sophomore album I Am Me, which is due Oct. 18. Directed by Mark Webb and featuring Napoleon Dynamite's Efren Ramirez as the alleged object of her desire, the video is a tongue-in-cheek response to gossip that she broke up former flames Wilmer Valderrama and Lindsay Lohan (see box). "It was me and my mom's idea. We thought it would be funny because there are all these silly rumors," she says. "I've never stolen anyone's boyfriend."

In addition to the video, which premieres on MTV's TRL Sept. 12, Simpson plans to hit a number of small venues this fall on a mini tour promoting I Am Me. "The album is incredible," says her mom, Tina, who notes that Ashlee even addresses last year's Saturday Night Live lip-synching debacle on two songs. "You'll see a lot of maturity in her voice and lyrics." The music isn't the only change. The onetime bottle brunette—who just bought a new home in the San Fernando Valley—has returned to her natural blonde hair color. "If you listen to my new record, it's lighter and more fun," she says. Plus, "I was really sick of getting my roots done—it looked like I was balding when they'd come in. I just had to go back to being blonde. But I'm such an extremist. I was trying highlights, but I was like, 'No, I've got to go white. Put the peroxide to my hair now!' "

Chris Strauss. Marisa Laudadio in Los Angeles and Mark Dagostino in New York City.