Walters on Lohan: 'She Has A Lot of Problems'
Barbara Walters finally opened up about Lindsay Lohan on The View this morning, for the first time since the Liz & Dick star bailed on their pre-arranged interview.
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"I have a few things to say about Lindsay Lohan," Walters began. "I like Lindsay Lohan very much. I've known her for years. She said whenever she did an interview, she'd do it with me." In fact, Walters revealed they'd even filmed part one of the interview, on the set of Liz & Dick, earlier this year. A clip from that chat was then shown, where Walters asked about the June 15 incident where paramedics were called to Lohan's hotel room.
"It was a lot of hours," Lohan said in the clip about her mental state this June. "I think I was just honestly tired. I needed a nap and the next thing I knew, there were seven paramedics in the room. It was also my first time back [on a set]. I want to keep working, I want to keep going. I'm a survivor."
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Walters and Lohan were due to sit down for the second part of their interview last week, which is when the newswoman was informed by Lohan's new representation that the interview was canceled. "Lindsay doesn't feel up to it," was the reason Barbara says Lohan's new reps gave her for calling off the interview. "The punchline is," Walters continued, "Lindsay Lohan is sitting for an interview with Jay Leno." And that was an unforgivable offense in the panel's eyes.
Whoopi Goldberg posited that Lindsay Lohan's new team decided she was not ready (or, perhaps, capable) of handling the kinds of in-depth questions Walters is celebrated for asking. "I couldn't agree with you more," Walters replied. "If they'd said to me, 'You know Barbara, she's not ready for the kind of questions you might ask.' If they had told me that, I would not feel quite as disappointed as I do today. I wish I could have had a more honest explanation."
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Walters also believes the person who will be hurt the most by this is Lohan herself. "I think to go on Jay Leno and be adorable and amusing, there's still all the problems," Walters said. "It would have been a wonderful interview. She could have set a lot of things straight. I think [my interview] could have helped her."
Liz & Dick is set to air on Lifetime November 25 and Lohan is expected to sit down with Jay Leno on the November 20 edition of The Tonight Show.