EMILY MORTIMER - MORTIMER RED-FACED OVER SIMPSON SLIP-UP

British actress EMILY MORTIMER was left red-faced on late night TV in America on Thursday (02Nov07) when she questioned JESSICA SIMPSON's look while sitting next to her former co-star and once-reported boyfriend DANE COOK. The Match Point star revealed she overcomes her fear of flying on planes by reading through "crappy" tabloids, during her appearance on Late Night With Conan O'Brien. But she tripped herself up when she said, "For some reason it's distracting wondering (whether) or not Jessica Simpson has had plastic surgery or something." As the studio audience started laughing, Mortimer turned to fellow guest Cook - and quickly realised she'd picked the wrong celebrity to poke fun at. Still clueless about Cook's connection to Simpson, the actress asked, "Are you Jessica Simpson's boyfriend..? Have I put my foot in it?" Delighted host O'Brien chuckled, "This is crazily weird... I'm just gonna watch this, why don't you two talk." Puzzled Mortimer asked, "What's the Jessica Simpson link?" to which O'Brien quipped, "It was a long time ago."