Why Bette Middler Said She 'Would Have' Sued Lindsay Lohan as a Kid

Lindsay Lohan and Bette Midler

Looking back at the failure of her 2000 sitcom Bette, Bette Midler recently revealed that one thing she wished she had done differently when it came to Lindsay Lohan—then about 14 years old—when she left the show after the pilot.

Midler sat down with actor David Duchovny for his podcast Fail Better to talk about her past mistakes, taking a moment to consider what led to the end of the family sitcom Bette which ran for one season.

She mentioned several "astonishing" and unexpected things that happened throughout the process, saying, "For instance, Lindsay Lohan was cast as my daughter in the pilot. Well, after the pilot, Lindsay Lohan decided she didn’t want to do it. Or she had other fish to fry. So, Lindsay Lohan left the building."

Midler recalled the "extremely chaotic" aftermath as she tried to figure out her best move, claiming that no one else working on the show or at the studio helped her.

Duchovny then mentioned enforcing contracts with actors like Lohan, leading the Hocus Pocus actress to boldly admit, “I didn’t know that I could have taken charge, that I could have asserted, because I think because I was so terrified of being branded a grandstander.”

"If I had known that part of my duties were to stand up and say, 'This absolutely will not do, I'm gonna sue,' then I would have done that," she noted.

Midler, a producer on Bette, didn't share any further details about Lohan's contract and whether or not she violated it when she departed the show after the pilot. It's also unclear who decided for Lohan not to continue with the sitcom, as she was just a teenager. For the child actress, the sitcom pilot came not long after the success of The Parent Trap, and a couple of years later, she starred in Get A Clue and Freaky Friday.

Lohan has not responded to Midler's new comments, but the 78-year-old's bold statements came only days after her former co-star shared a photo on Instagram of herself and Midler on the set of Bette, writing, "Had such a blast filming with the incredible @bettemidler ?? #tbt."

Given Midler's statements, it seems like she might not feel the same way.

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