Lindsay Lohan Speaks out Against One Joke in the ‘Mean Girls’ Remake

Lindsay Lohan was reportedly “very hurt” by one particular joke in the new Mean Girls movie. Lohan starred in the original 2004 film and has promoted the new version, which is in theaters now. However, a rep for Lohan told PEOPLE that a reference to her in the new script did not sit well with her.

Lohan played Cady Heron in the original movie, and this time the part is played by Angourie Rice. At one point in the movie, someone jokingly refers to Cady as “fire crotch,” which Lohan apparently took as a personal insult. A representative for Lohan said: “Lindsay was very hurt and disappointed by the reference in the film.”

The 2024 film depicts Cady with reddish hair – though perhaps not as red as Lohan’s hair in the original movie, or Lohan’s natural color, for that matter. As far as high school insults go, “fire crotch” is not all that uncommon for people with red hair, but Lohan reportedly felt that this one was personal. She saw it as a reference to a 2006 paparazzi video in which her friend Brandon Davis referred to her as “fire crotch.”

It’s unclear if Lohan knew about this joke before she agreed to make a cameo in the new movie. She also appeared at the movie’s New York City red carpet premiere last week. Writer Tina Fey explained how the cameo came to be in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.

“Paramount was like, ‘Can you get any of the original ladies? And I was like, ‘I can’t fit five people in.’ I felt like if I could only get one person as a surprise, the original movie is really Lindsay’s movie,” Fey said. “As great as they all are, she’s the heart of that movie. And I thought, well, what could she do? I didn’t think [she should] play a teacher. I was trying to think of something that you wouldn’t expect. And just to have her do that late in the movie, it also feels like it comes, I hope, at a time where fans weren’t expecting one more little surprise. It also lets her be smart, which Cady is.”

Fey wrote Mean Girls in 2004 based loosely on a non-fiction book about adolescent social cliques called Queen Bees and Wannabes by Rosalind Wiseman. Fey then wrote the script for the stage adaptation, Mean Girls the Musical, which premiered on Broadway in 2018. Finally, this new 2024 movie is a film adaptation of the musical, bringing the story full circle for a new generation just in time for its 20th anniversary.

Mean Girls is playing now in theaters. The 2004 version starring Lohan is streaming now on Paramount+.