The album was produced by Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Cory Rooney, Scott Storch, Stargate and Lester Mendez.

The album debuted at number five on the US Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 101,000 copies and was certified Gold by the RIAA.

[6] It was reportedly delayed due to her divorce from Nick Lachey, as the pair announced their split in November 2005.

[8] Simpson worked with Janet Jackson's extensive producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis on several songs on A Public Affair.

[9] The duo had previously produced Simpson's country-pop cover version of "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" for the soundtrack to The Dukes of Hazzard; the song was a hit single in 2005,[10] reaching the top 15 in the United States while charting in the top five in Australia and the United Kingdom.

[6][15] Slant Magazine's Sal Cinquemani regarded Simpson's work with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis as unexpected, saying their contributions are "surprisingly, country-inspired.

The initial cover art for the album showed a "sultry" image of Simpson wearing a strapless dress with her hair down.

[17][18] Simpson's representative Rob Shuter explained to TMZ that the original cover was provided to the record label because the final decision on the album's artwork had not yet been made at that time.

Simpson and producer Cory Rooney wrote the song's verse lyrics, but were uncredited on the release.

She explained: "I wrote about the patterns I fell into, and how fear often keeps me stuck in a circle, where I can't tell the beginning from the end".

[26] The ninth track, "Back to You", is about Simpson's first boyfriend in high school, which was inspired by her old journal entries.

Some music critics believed the cover was in reference to Simpson's divorce from Nick Lachey.

However, Simpson suffered from a broken blood vessel in her throat prior to several scheduled live performances.

The following day, she made an appearance on MTV's Total Request Live where she did not perform but introduced music videos.

held a release party for the album at The Roxy in New York City, where Simpson told reporters "My voice is completely gone.

[38] The song was favorably likened to Janet Jackson for its "breathy vocals" and "sweet melody".

[39] In the United States, the single debuted at number 39 on the Billboard Hot 100, on the issue dated July 15, 2006.

[43] On August 9, 2006, Simpson announced on her official website that she wanted her fans to choose the second single from A Public Affair.

[46][47] The song was initially only included on the Walmart release of A Public Affair as a bonus track, a decision which Sal Cinquemani of Slant called "a coup for the retail giant and a big fuck-you to competitors and unknowing fans who pick up the album anywhere else.

[50] Prior to the release of A Public Affair, Simpson expressed that she wanted "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" chosen as its second single, but her management was concerned that it was "too much of a club track".

[16][60][55] In a positive review, Stephen Thomas Erlewine from Allmusic described A Public Affair as a "party album, pure and simple".

[54] Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine categorized A Public Affair as "shallow", but also named it her "best [album] to date" with themes of "underrated nostalgia".

[16] Spence D. from IGN felt that the album failed to establish Simpson as having a unique identity, saying she "seems to be spending all of her time trying to sound like other people".

[26] Lizzie Ennever from the BBC was critical of Simpson's vocal performance on the album, saying "you get the feeling that she might not even make it through the initial rounds of American Idol".

[63] On September 29, 2006, A Public Affair was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting 500,000 in shipments.