Lindsay Lohan’s dad threatens legal action against her
By Alan Duke, CNN
April 26, 2010 6:39 p.m. EDT
Michael Lohan’s dispute with his actress daughter, Lindsay, boiled over last week.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Michael Lohan’s lawyer says dad is worried about alcohol, substance abuse
Lawyer: Father is ready to take “all appropriate legal action” to prevent a tragedy
Michael Lohan persuaded a deputy to help him enter her Hollywood home last week
Lindsay Lohan’s 16-year-old sister has been staying with the actress
Los Angeles, California (CNN) — Lindsay Lohan’s father will “pursue any and all appropriate legal action” to prevent his daughter from becoming “another Hollywood statistic” because of alcohol and substance abuse, Michael Lohan’s lawyer said Monday.
The much-publicized dispute between the actress-singer and her father boiled over last week when Michael Lohan persuaded a sheriff’s deputy to help him enter her Hollywood home to check on the welfare of her 16-year-old sister.
Lindsay Lohan’s lawyer said it was “nothing more than a publicity stunt.”
Michael Lohan’s lawyer, Lisa Bloom, said in a written statement Monday he was reacting to “a problem millions of Americans have: What can a parent do when an adult child appears to have a serious alcohol or drug problem? What can a parent do when that adult child’s life appears to be spiraling out of control?
“He has watched along with the rest of us over the past few months as Lindsay has been photographed partying and clubbing night after night, appearing as though she is under the influence of alcohol or substances,” Bloom said. “He is heartbroken about her current condition. With his own two eyes, just last week, he has seen her looking worse than ever.”
Video: Lohan: I want Lindsay to get life back
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Lindsay Lohan was arrested twice in 2007 on charges of driving under the influence. In the second incident, she also was charged with cocaine possession. She is on probation for a 2007 drunken driving conviction and is participating in a required alcohol counseling program.
She told the British newspaper The Sun earlier this year that she feared for her life while abusing substances to deal with family problems in 2007. She said she has since learned to embrace life instead of drugs.
Her father said he flew to Los Angeles last week because of reports he was getting from friends about his 23-year-old daughter’s behavior.
“Michael is not going to stand idly by and watch his daughter become another Hollywood statistic,” Bloom said. “He intends to do everything in his power to prevent Lindsay from becoming another Marilyn Monroe, Anna Nicole Smith, Michael Jackson, Heath Ledger or Corey Haim.”
Bloom said she was hired “to pursue any and all appropriate legal action to save and protect his daughter.”
“The law affords a parent who believes his adult child is not in control of her health and welfare a number of legal options,” she said. “As of now, all options are open.”
Michael Lohan is trying to sit down with his daughter and her lawyer “to come up with an appropriate treatment plan that will allow her to get her life back on course,” Bloom said. “If, however, that does not happen, Michael is prepared to pursue other legal action towards his one and only goal: to save and protect his daughter.”
Lindsay Lohan reacted loudly Thursday when her father walked into her home.
“I have no choice but to make this public, due to my sister’s safety, as well as my own,” she said in a Twitter posting Thursday afternoon. ” ‘My ex-dad’ just WALKED INTO MY APT like the devil’s advocate with officers.”
“When will it ever end,” she tweeted. “It’s been going on my whole life with him — hasn’t he caused enough pain?”
After the surprise visit to his daughter’s home, Michael Lohan then drove to TMZ’s Hollywood newsroom, where he appeared in a live webcast to talk about why he did it.
He said he flew to Los Angeles when a friend told him his 16-year-old daughter, Ali, was partying with her older sister. The friend also said he saw them driving 115 mph on a freeway, he said.
“That was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” Lohan told TMZ’s Harvey Levin.
Lohan’s acting career, which started at age 10 on the now-defunct soap opera “Another World,” took off on the big screen a year later when she played identical twins in Disney’s “The Parent Trap.”
Since then, she has starred in at least a dozen movies, including “Georgia Rule” with Jane Fonda in 2007. Her pop music recording career, boosted by her movie roles, has faded recently. Her last album was released in 2005.