Lindsay Lohan was once the biggest star of her generation: she acted, she danced, she
sang, and she was the hottest party girl on the planet. But all that partying eventually
caught up to her, and now she's box office poison. Here's why Hollywood won't cast Lindsay
Lohan anymore.
In July 2006, Morgan Creek Productions CEO James G. Robinson sent Lindsay Lohan a letter
threatening legal action due to her lack of professionalism on the set of Georgia Rule.
He wrote:
"Since the commencement of principal photography of Georgia Rule, you have frequently failed
to arrive on time to the set. Today, you did not show for work all day. I am now told you
don't plan to work tomorrow because you are 'not feeling well.'"
Robinson was under no doubts as to what was causing Lohan's tardiness. He said:
"We are well aware that your ongoing all night heavy partying is the real reason for your
so called 'exhaustion.' We refuse to accept bogus excuses for your behavior. If you do
not honor your production commitments...we will hold you personally accountable."
Lohan didn't appear to learn her lesson, either. In 2010, an on-set source claimed to E! News
that Lohan was a total nightmare during her stint on Glee. The source said:
"She was three hours late in the morning, and when she did finally arrive, she just
didn't want to be there. She did not want to work. She had not memorized her lines,
and she kept disappearing so no one could find her...she has rubbed [the staffers] all
the wrong way."
For her part, Lohan has explained why this reputation arose, in an interview with Oprah
Winfrey on her own docuseries, Lindsay.
"I was so distracted in the past too, that, you know, I wasn't on point with that, with
being on time."
Sadly, it seems that being late might be the best Lindsay Lohan is able to do, because
sometimes she just doesn't show up to sets at all. On the set of 2013's The Canyons,
filmmaker Paul Schrader confirmed to The New York Times that Lohan had several no-shows
throughout the filming of the indie flick.
The following year, the actress tweeted how she was too ill to perform in a London stage
production of Speed The Plow, but appeared just fine on Instagram, and eventually showed
up to play the part. Lohan might also have trouble following directions.
When filming The Canyons, she was asked to keep a fresh face with minimal makeup. Instead,
she once showed up wearing a full face of cosmetics, with one film staffer commenting:
"Her makeup looks like it's from a different movie."
She also can't seem to fully recollect her lines during live performances. Per the New
York Daily News, someone backstage reportedly fed Lohan lines of dialogue during preview
performances of Speed The Plow. She hadn't improved by her live debut either, with reports
claiming she needed to be fed five lines during the show. And when Lohan appeared on Saturday
Night Live in 2012, MTV News reported that she was visibly reading from cue cards.
One reason many people might be hesitant to hire Lohan is because of her reputation for
pilfering property that doesn't belong to her. In May 2008, she was accused of stealing
a fur coat from another girl at a party. That same week, a model claimed Lohan stole thousands
of dollars worth of clothing from her closet, allegedly handing them to her bodyguard in
a bag. Lohan denied the allegations.
In 2009, Lohan reportedly visited jewelry designer Arielle de Pinto's showroom, where
she borrowed several pieces for a photoshoot. The label took an imprint of her credit card
just in case. The pieces were never returned, and the credit card was cancelled before they
could put any charges on it. In 2010, Lohan was accused of stealing a $35,000 Rolex watch
from a friend, which she denied, despite wearing the same one after it had gone missing.
2011 saw Lohan serve time after pleading no contest to stealing a $2,500 necklace. In
August 2012, she was a person of interest in a $100,000 theft of jewelry and Rolex watches,
but the case was thrown out for lack of evidence; Lohan, meanwhile, swore she'd been framed.
In 2013, TMZ reported that Lohan stole various jewelry and clothing from the wardrobe department
at Anger Management, then told people that the items' value would be deducted from her
paycheck, a deal that sources denied ever happened. Finally, in 2017, Lohan's ex, Egor
Tarabasov, accused her of stealing nearly $30,000 worth of his personal property. You
can hardly blame producers for wanting to be cautious.
Lindsay Lohan's rap sheet is almost as long as her on-screen resume, and many of her arrests
have come due to her struggles with substance abuse. In May 2007, she was charged with driving
under the influence. That July, she was busted again on suspicion of DUI, driving with a
suspended license, and cocaine possession, and later spent 84 minutes in jail after pleading
guilty to misdemeanor cocaine use. Lohan was placed on probation for three years stemming
from her July 2007 arrest, but in October 2009, her probation was extended an extra
year to allow her more time to complete an alcohol education program.
In May 2010, Lohan's probation was revoked after she skipped a court date in favor of
the Cannes Film Festival; in the end, she paid $100,000 to stay free. Days later, she
was fitted with an alcohol-monitoring ankle bracelet and ordered to submit to random drug
testing. A month later, the bracelet was triggered at an MTV Movie Awards afterparty. Lohan was
charged with violating her probation and sentenced to 90 days in jail, although she served only
two weeks.
"As terrified as I was, and as, like, scared as I was, I finally felt like I didn't have
to answer to anyone, I didn't have to do anything for anyone."
Finally, in September 2010, Lohan's probation was revoked when cocaine was found in her
system. She was sentenced to jail and days later was carted off to rehab.
If you thought Lindsay Lohan's rap sheet ended with her drug and alcohol offenses, you'd
be wrong. For her alleged theft of that $2,500 necklace in 2011, Lohan was sentenced to 120
days in county jail, followed by 480 hours of community service. Once more, due to overcrowding,
Lohan was released after a month, and ordered to serve out the rest of her jail sentence
under house arrest. In October 2011, her probation was revoked after she failed to perform her
required community service.
In March 2012, Lohan was accused of side-swiping a car outside of a Hollywood nightclub and
then fleeing the scene, but prosecutors didn't press charges due to lack of evidence, and
almost the same exact scenario played out six months later with an identical outcome.
In November 2012, Lohan was arrested for allegedly punching a woman in a New York nightclub.
Hours after the assault arrest, Lohan was charged with three separate crimes, all stemming
from a June 2012 car accident in California, in which she allegedly lied to police and
said her assistant was driving her rental car at the time.
Due to Lindsay Lohan's past struggles with addiction and the law, she has proven extremely
hard to insure, which can be a big problem when it comes to hiring her for work. As an
anonymous Los Angeles talent agency owner previously explained to ABC News:
"Say you're going to make a $5 million movie, and you're hiring Lindsay Lohan as the lead...What
insurance company is going to want to hop on board? What if she doesn't come to work
for three days, and you have to pay $300,000 to keep the set going?"
Film insurance broker Brian Kingman notes:
"Filmmakers put up millions and millions of dollars on a movie, studios put up hundreds
of millions of dollars, and it requires everybody's professionalism. When somebody isn't professional,
that gives insurers concerns."
Lindsay Lohan's most recent attempt at a reality show didn't exactly go over well with critics
or audiences. In early 2019, the Chicago Tribune called Lohan's MTV series, Lindsay Lohan's
Beach Club, quote, "a deeply sad viewing experience," while The Hollywood Reporter said the show
was, quote, "vapid and tedious." Overall, critics gave it a dismal 27 percent rating
on Rotten Tomatoes, and its audience score was only slightly better, clocking in at a
measly 38 percent. By June 2019, Lohan had ditched both the show and the beach club itself.
A source, cited by Page Six, claimed:
"There was a renewal idea that producers hoped would perk it up for a second season. It would
be turned into a show about Lindsay and [her mother] Dina and [sister] Ali, [but] that
wasn't going to happen."
The insider added that producers claimed the show lacked drama, saying:
"They wanted 'breakdowns.' That's not where [Lohan] is at with her life anymore. Their
personal business doesn't need to be aired on television; it's already in the papers
anyway."
2019 saw Lindsay Lohan appear as a judge on The Masked Singer Australia, but that gig
may not last too long, either. According to a source cited by New Idea early that October:
"She is being replaced. She was tricky with demands and had a complete lack of respect
for time schedules."
Not to mention the fact that Lohan very publicly shaded Cody Simpson on the show when he performed
while disguised as a robot. Simpson, who had previously dated Lohan's little sister, Ali,
eventually won his season of The Masked Singer Australia, after which Lohan posted a snap
of the reality star and her baby sis on Instagram. The caption read:
"When you realize you failed. And you settle for less. Family is everything. You won The
Masked Singer but you lost your future."
It should be noted that Lohan quickly deleted the post, and sources close to the singer-actress
insisted it was just an inside joke between friends. As to whether or not Lohan was actually
fired from the TV gig remains to be seen, as she was later filmed gushing about Season
2 of The Masked Singer Australia in November 2019.
Of course, if ever there were a place for a redemption story, that place would be Hollywood.
And even Lindsay Lohan isn't beyond the pale. In 2013, The Canyons director Paul Schrader
told People magazine:
"People do want to hire her, [but]...everything's a crisis. And when it isn't a crisis, she
finds a way to make it one. A lot of it's up to her. If she can create a reputation
of reliability, and that's her number one problem, she will have a career because people
do like her."
While speaking with Fox News four years later, Lohan herself said:
"I am more ready than ever to get back into movies and TV. It is a true passion of mine
and has been since I was a child. It is not about the limelight though, it's about doing
what you love."
She added:
"I decided to make some big changes in my life and getting back on track with work was
one of them. I changed my outlook on life, the people I was hanging out with, my management,
everything combined has had such a positive outcome!"
Despite her rocky past, Lindsay Lohan has high hopes for her future in Hollywood and
beyond. After spending the previous couple of years living in Dubai, the singer-actress
rang in the 2020 in Oman, and revealed to Andy Cohen and Anderson Cooper that she had
big plans for the new decade.
"I'm managing my sister, so I want to really focus on me and everything that I can do in
my life. And just, you know, taking back the life that I've worked so hard for and sharing
it with my family and you guys."
Following her successful run in the U.K.'s black comedy Sick Note, Lohan is slated to
star opposite Mickey Rourke in the upcoming movie, Cursed. And after a decade away from
the recording studio, she promised her fans on Instagram that she would release her third
album in February 2020. Now, that hasn't happened quite yet, but Lohan did release a song about
anxiety, called "Xanax", in 2019...albeit briefly. After dropping the anticipated single
on Instagram, Lohan quickly deleted it. Then, on April 3rd 2020, Lohan dropped "Back to
Me", her first proper single in 12 years.
If Lohan is successful in these ventures, others will likely open up, because if there's
one thing Hollywood loves, it's a comeback kid.
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