Jessica Simpson Delivers A+ Response To Subway's Tuna Controversy

Jessica Simpson is known for many things, ranging from her music career to her reality TV presence to her interviews, but the one legacy that may always be attached to her name is that time she confused chicken and tuna when eating some "Chicken of the Sea" as a snack on Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica back in 2003. Simpson has moved on both from then-husband Nick Lachey and reality TV work, but her response to Subway's tuna controversy was an A+ throwback to her own famous confusion.

A Today news segment about a controversy surrounding Subway's tuna sub brought Jessica Simpson to Twitter with her own fantastic commentary. Take a look:

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Kudos to Jessica Simpson for not only acknowledging her very public previous confusion about actual chicken vs. Chicken of the Sea, but making a joke out of it on social media! My favorite part might actually be that she gave no context to her reaction, so anybody who missed the public response to her original comment on Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica back in the day wouldn't get why it was funny.

As for Subway, the fast food franchise had a response to Jessica Simpson consoling them about the confusing nature of fish vs. chicken. In fact, whoever runs Subway's Twitter account managed to carry on the joke while also dropping the disclaimer that Subway tuna fish subs are in fact made with tuna fish instead of mystery ingredients. Subway responded:

ugh we were just about to call you. confirmed. our tuna is 100% wild caught tuna and 100% not chicken.

Subway may not be using Chicken of the Sea tuna, but the franchise's account made it clear that their tuna is officially not chicken. Maybe if more foods came with such a clear disclaimer, Jessica Simpson wouldn't have immortalized herself in reality TV history for wondering if she was eating chicken or tuna. Instead, the series premiere of Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica featured the moment, and the episode is in fact called "Chicken of the Sea."

That's not to say that Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica on the whole is going to go down as one of the most unforgettable reality TV shows ever produced, and I'm guessing that Jessica Simpson's chicken vs. tuna conflict will outlast anything else that the show delivered over its three seasons. It's good to know that the singer/actress/author can laugh at what happened all the way back in 2003. In fact, the tweet to Subway wasn't even the only recent instance of Simpson poking fun at herself:

A photo posted by on

I'm not sure I want to know how that chicken wound up in the sea in that image, but I'm definitely glad Jessica Simpson saw it to post on her Instagram! Simpson has used social media to show off her lighthearted side as well as her new yoga body, although that's not to say that the celebrity hasn't opened up and gotten serious about difficult parts of her life. Life in the limelight hasn't always been easy for Simpson, but at least she'll always have the chicken vs. tuna joke in her wheelhouse.

Jessica Simpson doesn't expect to ever return to reality TV, but there are plenty of options on the small screen now and in the coming weeks, so be sure to check out our 2021 winter and spring premiere schedule.

Laura Hurley
Senior Content Producer

Laura turned a lifelong love of television into a valid reason to write and think about TV on a daily basis. She's not a doctor, lawyer, or detective, but watches a lot of them in primetime. CinemaBlend's resident expert and interviewer for One Chicago, the galaxy far, far away, and a variety of other primetime television. Will not time travel and can cite multiple TV shows to explain why. She does, however, want to believe that she can sneak references to The X-Files into daily conversation (and author bios).