'Not Suing Her Was a Mistake,' Bette Midler Opens Up About Her Feud With Lindsay Lohan

Summary

• Bette Midler has had a varied career over the years.
• She and Lindsay Lohan briefly worked together on the same project.
• Midler wishes she had known better and sued Lohan for what she did.

Throughout her extensive career, Bette Midler has reached tremendous heights. She is a celebrated actress, singer, author, and comedian who rose to prominence as a Broadway performer. She starred in a number of popular comedies throughout the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, including Big Business, Hocus Pocus, The First Wives Club, and The Stepford Wives. But Bette Midler's journey hasn't been without its setbacks.

Although the actress was a regular guest on variety and talk shows, her filmography doesn't include many series credits. Most recently, Bette Midler starred in The Politician, which came almost two decades after her unsuccessful CBS sitcom Bette.

On Bette, Midler played a fictionalized version of herself, a celebrated artist trying to live a normal life with her family despite her fame. Lindsay Lohan was supposed to play Bette's on-screen daughter, but to everyone's shock – especially Midler's – she dropped out of the show. Nothing was done about it at the time, but in hindsight, Bette regrets not suing her young co-star.

The Beginning of Chaos

Like many other sitcoms, Bette first shot a pilot. Lindsay Lohan was part of it, but decided to quit soon after, leaving the budding show in need of a new actress for the lead role. And Bette Midler, inexperienced in TV production, just didn't know what to do.

'Lindsay Lohan left the building and I said, "Well, now what do you do?" And the studio didn't help me. It was extremely chaotic,' Midler said in a recent interview.

According to the actress, despite her vast experience in film, she didn't understand how sitcom production worked. She watched and enjoyed television, but it was 'a part of the media she simply didn't understand.' And the worst part was that no one cared to help her, which is why, despite being an executive producer on her namesake show, Bette Midler didn't know she could take charge of what happened on set.

'If I had been in my right mind, or if I had known that my part of my duties were to stand up and say, "This absolutely will not do, I'm going to sue," then I would have done that. But I seem to have been cosseted in some way that I couldn't get to the writer's room. I couldn't speak to the showrunner. I couldn't make myself clear,' she added.

No Hard Feelings

At the same time, it doesn't seem like Bette Midler holds a grudge against Lindsay Lohan. So it might be a stretch to say they're feuding. Besides, Midler didn't really appreciate her own time on Bette and was happy when it was canceled after only sixteen episodes on the air.

But the intention to sue Lohan is a matter of professional integrity, and it's what any other producer would have done in Midler's place. Therefore, it was a mistake not to sue.

Source: Apple Podcasts.