Actress Lindsay Lohan claims she was racially profiled while traveling through London's Heathrow Airport. The "Mean Girls" actress told a British talk show said she was stopped while wearing a headscarf. She was on her way to New York. The former child actress told "Good Morning Britain" an airport employee stopped her, opened her passport, saw her name and immediately apologized but then said to "please take off your headscarf." Lohan was returning from Turkey where she met with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. She told the British talk show she wore the headscarf out of respect.
She also told co-hosts Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid it was the first time being racially profiled in her life.
Lindsay Lohan's airport experience left her scared
The 30-year-old actress said the experience left her shaken up and made her think about the other women who are uncomfortable with taking off their headscarf. According the NBC News, under British travel regulations, the actress did have the right to refuse to take off her headscarf.
"If you're wearing headgear for religious or cultural reasons, you can ask for it to be checked using a hand-held scanner so you don't have to remove it," the rules state, according to Gov.uk.
Lohan posted about her trip to Turkey on Instagram to her 5.9 million followers.
The snap features Lohan alongside the President and the First Lady. The actress captioned the photo saying she is inspired by the duo's efforts on helping Syrian refugees.
Lohan faces backlash from airport story
Not everyone was buying Lohan's story. Many took to social media to say the actress is making these claims for publicity.
"Everyone has to uncover their heads, you are not special. People get patted down, and possibly strip searched. Iv even seen people that have had to remove artificial body parts," said Facebook user Laura A Walker.
Facebook user Ebony Love rebutted with, "Taking off your headscarf in public IF YOU ARE A MUSLIM WOMAN is a big deal...what r u talking about? Do u live in a box?"
