Jessica Simpson photo courtesy of Sony BMG Nashville.

When Jessica Simpson started promoting her first country album last year, she repeatedly told interviewers she had always been a country singer and she was finally making a commitment to the genre. She went so far last summer as to tell The Tennessean she would make country albums in the future, even if she lost her label deal and had to finance them herself.

Now it appears she has a chance to prove whether she was sincere in that statement or if it was promotional gab. A small blog, Country Music Tattle Tale, pointed out Tuesday that her image and materials were no longer available on the Sony BMG Nashville website. The day was filled with rumors of her departure from country music, and indeed, a publicist told Country Aircheck that she was no longer associated with the label’s country division, though she is still in the fold at Epic Records.

“She was on loan to Sony Nashville for her country album,” Jessica’s spokesperson said.

Her label did not respond to a GAC inquiry about her status. The label declined to comment to other media as well, though OK! magazine claimed a telephone operator said she had “come off the label.”

Even before she launched her country album and the single “Come On Over,” Jessica had already created plenty of skeptics with her pop-diva image and a well-documented appearance at the Kennedy Center Honors in which she couldn’t complete a performance of “9 To 5,” meant to pay tribute to Dolly Parton. The ever-gracious Dolly insisted Jessica should go ahead with her country plans and even made a vocal appearance on Jessica’s album, Do You Know. But Jessica continued to have problems remembering lyrics on stage, a fact that dogged her throughout her run as an opening act for Rascal Flatts.

Her apparent disappearance from Sony Nashville became public the same day that rapper Eminem released a new video, “We Made You,” that parodies her and boyfriend Tony Romo. A chunky model in the clip parodying Jessica wears Daisy Dukes — an obvious reference to her appearance in the movie The Dukes Of Hazzard — though she’s hardly the only celebrity clobbered in the process. Other pop images satirized by Eminem include Poison’s Bret Michaels, Sara Palin, Star Trek and Country Music Hall of Famer Elvis Presley’s dance scene in Jailhouse Rock.

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