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Lindsay Lohan Friend Recounts Hotel Incident: "She's Not in a Good Place"

Claus Hjelmbak tells E! News how the actress and Christian LaBella allegedly got into an altercation at the W last month

By Rebecca Macatee Oct 06, 2012 12:54 AMTags
Lindsay LohanDimitrios Kambouris/WireImage

Lindsay Lohan has clearly had a tumultuous past few months.

And while the Mean Girls starlet continues to direct the blame elsewhere, pal Claus Hjelmbak, who was present the night Lohan alleges she was assaulted at the W Hotel, tells E! News that "she's not in a good place."

"But it's not because of health issues," he clarified. "She's not in a good place, because people around her keep throwing her under the bus."

According to Hjelmbak, Christian LaBella, who Lohan accused of assault (he was released from police custody, charges were dropped and police say no crime was committed), didn't know Hjelmbak or Lohan before that night. So how'd he become part of their group? "Lindsay is a sweet girl and is very open and nice when people come over and talk," he explained. "In this case, she thought it was somebody her friends know."

Hjelmbak says everything was normal until Lohan noticed LaBella had been taking photos of her on his cell phone. "She was visibly shaken already at that point," he explained. "She was shocked. At that moment, you feel betrayed when you are in a private space and you realize someone has documented the entire night on the phone."

After that was when the alleged altercation happened. Hjelmbak said there were no drugs involved, and he was unsure if Lohan had even had "a drink or two."

So what does Lohan's pal think we should do to help get the 26-year-old actress back to a good place? "Look at her art," he said. "And stop focusing so much on her private life. That would be a big help to her getting back to a really good place."

—Reporting by Jason Kennedy