Lindsay Lohan Says Britney Spears & Paris Hilton Helped Spark the Comeback They All Deserved
The early-to-mid 2000s weren’t kind to Lindsay Lohan, who had to endure the relentless camera lenses of the paparazzi along with her burgeoning fame — and she paid the price for the often misogynistic narrative.
As the 39-year-old actress now navigates Hollywood on her own terms, she is looking back at that tumultuous in an Aug. 2 interview with The Sunday Times.
“I don’t ever want my family to experience being chased by the paparazzi the way I was. They were terrifying moments I had in my life — I have PTSD to the extreme from those things,” Lohan explained. “The most invasive situations. Really scary. And I pray stuff like that never comes back. It’s not safe. It’s not fair.”
Once social media changed the game, thankfully, the paparazzi no longer had the power to pursue young actresses for high-dollar snapshots. It also helped that her pals, Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, used their voice to talk about how damaging that time was for them in their formative years.
“We didn’t have [social media] and so, no, I don’t think anybody chose that life, but what I have learnt over time is how to separate my private life and public life, and that was difficult for me because nobody ever teaches you how to do that,” Lohan added.
Fans remember the iconic 2006 paparazzi photo of Lohan, Spears, and Hilton in the car together after a night out on the town. But it’s also not lost on people that Hilton was the one who showed up for the pop star when she needed it the most. Hilton’s documentary 2020 documentary, This Is Paris, gave Spears strength when she was fighting to get out of her conservatorship run by her father, Jamie Spears.
“It’s so not fair, but I’m so proud of her for speaking up and using her voice,” Hilton said on her I Am Paris podcast in July 2021. “I believe that the truth shall set you free, and turning your pain into a purpose is so powerful.”
Without the three women fighting back years later against the abuses they faced privately and publicly, there possibly would not have been room for their comeback. Lohan’s movie career is thriving, Spears is free to live her life on her terms, and Hilton is proving her role as a mom of two is exactly where she wants to be.
Still, Lohan doesn’t feel like living in Hollywood is for her anymore. She, husband Bader Shammas, and son, Luai, 1, are based out of Dubai because it’s “very safe” and paparazzi are “not legal” there.
“You can’t take a picture of someone else if you’re in a restaurant,” Lohan explained on Live With Kelly and Mark on July 28. “You have to ask the person, which is a big difference from here. Privacy is key.”
Before you go, click here to see celebrities who fight hard to keep their partners and kids away from paparazzi.