Lindsay Lohan wonders why no one protected her as a child star

Lindsay Lohan wonders why no one stepped in to help her at the height of her fame.

During a recent interview with Vogue Arabia for its March cover story, the 39-year-old actress spoke about what it was like growing up in the spotlight after breaking into the industry at 12 years old.

“Now I look back and wonder, ‘Why didn’t anyone just go and take me out of there, protect me more?’” she said. “You don’t know how to do that yourself when you’re a teenager.”

Following her big break playing twins in the 1998 classic, “The Parent Trap,” Lohan starred in a string of successful movies, including “Freaky Friday,” “Mean Girls” and “Georgia Rule,” which was her last major studio film before she took an extended break from acting due to her legal issues.

Lohan was first arrested in May 2007 on a misdemeanor drunken driving charge, just a few months after she went into rehab for the first time in January 2007.

She would go on to get arrested and go to rehab multiple times over the years before she completed all requirements of her probation in May 2015 — for reckless driving and providing false information to police charges following a 2012 car accident – leading the judge to officially close the case.

Amid her personal and legal struggles, Lohan moved to Dubai in 2014, where she met her now-husband, financier Bader Shammas, telling Vogue Arabia the two work well “together because he’s so calm, and I’m like a firecracker,” adding that they “have a great balance.”

“Now I look back and wonder, ‘Why didn’t anyone just go and take me out of there, protect me more?’ You don’t know how to do that yourself when you’re a teenager.”

— Lindsay Lohan

“Being in Dubai is very grounding,” she said. “I get to just spend time with my family. The city gives me a sense of being with what’s most important.”

When speaking about her move to Dubai, Lohan highlighted how the ability to live a more private life in the country has been “a big breath of fresh air,” because it means not having to “overthink everything you do every second.”

The actress, who welcomed her first child, a son named Luai in July 2023, previously opened up about why she feels Dubai is the best place to raise her son, during a July 29 appearance on “Live With Kelly and Mark.” 

“It’s just far away from Hollywood, and I live a very normal life,” she said. “There’s no worry of like, ‘I can’t go eat at this place, ‘cause someone’s gonna take a picture of my son.’ I feel very safe.”

“It’s not legal,” Lindsay continued. “You can’t take a picture of someone else if you’re in a restaurant. You have to ask the person, which is a big difference from here.”

Lohan made her first real big comeback to Hollywood in the 2022 Christmas movie, “Falling for Christmas,” which she followed up with a cameo in the 2024 “Mean Girls” musical, “Irish Wish” and the highly anticipated “Freaky Friday” sequel, “Freakier Friday,” in 2025.

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Not only did she star in the 2025 sequel, she also acted as executive producer on the film, telling Forbes in August 2025 the role “means everything to me.”

“I really like being involved in the film from the ground up. I love having a say on, whether it be the casting, locations, who’s going to be our costume designer,” she said. “All of these parts of the film really mean a lot to me because I know so much about it now, growing up in this industry and really being on sets for so long. Having more of a handle on things allows me to immerse myself more into the character and into the story, and into the final product. So, it’s a big deal for me.”

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