Janet Charlton has a very interesting story claiming that Jessica Simpson learned about Prison Break star Lane Garrison’s car accident, in which a 17 year-old boy was killed and two teenage girls were injured, right before she performed at the Kennedy Center Awards. Garrison grew up in the same town as Jessica, was like a brother to her and even stayed with Jessica’s father, Joe, when he was a teenager. The news of Garrison’s car crash so upset Jessica that she performed terribly that night, singing so low that the audience couldn’t hear her and running offstage in tears.

Charlton also has the inside scoop on just why a 26 year-old man would be hanging out with high school students. They asked him to go to a party with them to impress their friends:

NOW we know why Jessica Simpson was in TEARS at the Kennedy Center Honors. She had just found out about Lane Garrison’s tragic auto accident. (One teenage male passenger was killed and two girls were injured.) Lane was like a brother to her – they grew up in the same town and when he had problems at home, he went to live with Jessica’s dad Joe Simpson when he was a teenager. Simpson helped make Lane a star like he did his daughters. And Lane loved being famous. When he went to Ralph’s Saturday night to buy pita chips, two teen girls saw him and got VERY excited. They begged him to come to their high school party to impress their friends. Lane couldn’t resist the flattery. Just how much he had to drink before and during the party will be apparent when his blood test results come back. When Lane wanted to leave, the girls begged the boy who was killed to come along because they were a little afraid of Lane. The joy ride ended abruptly when his SUV crashed into a tree. Acquaintances of Lane are predicting that the blood test will show more than alcohol was in his system. Right now Lane’s in hiding and Jessica is still distraught.

This is a sad story all around, and a another tragic cautionary tale for driving drunk.

If it’s true that Jessica was upset at her friend’s tragedy and not simply intimidated and nervous at having to perform Dolly Parton’s number, why didn’t her publicist say so? It’s the lead story in Page Six today, and her publicist simply confirms that she was jittery at having to sing in front of her idol and had to re-shoot the performance.