I've been trying to ignore this conversation all week. Really, I have. But clearly no one else is willing to step up and set the record straight, so I will.

Jessica Simpson is a serious downgrade.

I'm sorry, she is.

Don't get me wrong, Jess is hot. But she is not, and I repeat, not an A-list celebrity.

She's not even a B-lister.

Her movies flop, her CD sales have fallen off considerably and we won't even talk about her TV "work." She's the Anna Kournikova of pop culture, which only works if she's dating the Enrique Iglesias of sports. But she's not. Tony Romo actually has talent and could be doing so much better. Carrie Underwood? Now that's A-list. She's still getting Grammy nominations for a CD she released two years ago. America made her an Idol. Oprah loves her. And, and, and she's a looker.

When Underwood was sitting in Romo's box that meant she took time out of her busy A-list schedule to support him. Simpson has nothing else going on besides Proactive commercials. Underwood is on the cover of "Glamour" magazine. Simpson shares the cover with publications with headlines like "Abducted By Aliens!"or "Who's Gay Now?" True, the lyrics to Underwood's "Before He Cheats" are a little disturbing and something to consider if your eye tends to wander. But at least we all know the name of one of her songs.

No, to be a true A-list celebrity you have to have something going on, something people are talking about. Eva Longoria is a Desperate Housewife. Victoria Beckham was/is a Spice Girl. Simpson? She's rumored to have cheated on her husband with the dude from "Jackass." "Jackass," Tony, "Jackass." A guy who used to light his farts for a living may have bedded your current girlfriend.