Why Bette Midler Thinks She Should Have Sued Lindsay Lohan

Bette Midler isn’t pleased with the way her sitcom Bette, based on her semi-autobiography, played out. The series premiered in 2000 and aired for 16 episodes on CBS but ultimately wasn’t picked up for any additional seasons. She believes it’s because of Mean Girls star Lindsay Lohan’s disappearance from the series. The Beaches star revealed her feelings on the Fail Better podcast, hosted by David Duchovny. Midler even feels she should have sued Lohan for her early exit. “‘Bette.’ A big, big mistake. I think for several reasons,” Midler said. “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. And I said, well, now what do you do?” she added, as reported by Variety. 

Marina Malota replaced Lohan for the remaining episodes. Lohan reportedly exited the series after Midler opted to relocate production from New York City to Los Angeles. Lohan, then 14, didn’t want to commute with her family for the job. The Parent Trapp star’s pilot was never reshot.

But Lohan isn’t the only person Midler blames. She also says she played a role. “I didn’t realize what the pace was, and I didn’t understand what the hierarchy was, and no one bothered to tell me,” she said. “Well, I was kicked to the curb immediately and I didn’t know what to do about it… 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.”

She added: “It was a part of the media I simply did not understand,” Midler continued. “I watched it. I appreciated it. it, I enjoyed it, but I didn’t know what it meant to make [a TV series.] I had made theatrical live events, I had made films, I had made variety television shows, I had been on talk shows, but I had never done a situation comedy.”