ABC/DAVID GIESBRECHT
It's true. Sources close to ABC's Ugly Betty confirm to me that Lindsay Lohan has been cut from the show.
"They don't plan to have her back for more episodes," says a high-level insider.
According to my sources, the main driving force for this decision is that Lindsay was not gelling creatively with the series. "She was not so interested in creating a character," another reliable insider close to Betty tells me. "She was more interested in just playing herself, and that doesn't work on a show like this with such heightened reality."
Update: I was originally told that Lindsay's scenes were cut from what would have been her fifth and sixth episodes, but another source clarifies that everything Lindsay filmed will be aired. And, next week, her fourth appearance on the show, is all they ever shot and edited for Lindsay.
Update: According to sources who work on the show, Lindsay was originally written into an upcoming script of Betty, but she was taken out of that script and the scenes with her character were rewritten.
Producers of the series released a gracious official statement about Lohan, saying, "Lindsay wrapped up her arc, and she's done filming. She did a great job, and we enjoyed having her. Viewers can look forward to her episodes tonight and next week."
Now, what else supposedly went down on the set?
According to the New York Post, the hijinks that got Lohan cut loose may have included pantsing and, gasp, scrapbooking.
According to the Post, the alleged America versus Lindsay pantsing incident happened during the shooting of tonight's episode, "Granny Pants," which was directed by Fred Savage.
Apparently, the scene was supposed to involve Lindsay's character, Kimmie, pantsing America Ferrera's character, Betty, but when America turned the tables on Lindsay and yanked her pants down, she discovered, to her presumed dismay, that Lindsay was not wearing underwear.
An anonymous advocate for Lindsay quoted in the Post alleges the story can't be true, because Lindsay Lohan totally wears underwear all the time now, having learned her lesson after those unfortunate flashes a couple years back.
And the scrapbooking? Well, according to the Post's anonymous source, when Lindsay wasn't smoking like a chimney or lounging around with her overly large entourage, she was compulsively cutting out photos of herself from tabloids.
Lindsay first appeared on the series in last season's finale as Kimmie, a mean girl from Betty's past. She popped up again in this season's premiere, and her final two eps are this week and next.
Ugly Betty airs Thursdays on ABC at 8 p.m., but want to see Lindsay's performance for yourself right now? Check out the three sneak peeks of tonight's episode...
What do you think of all this? Are you disappointed LiLo couldn't hack it? What's the best or worst stunt casting of the season so far? (I vote for Nicole Richie and Ben Savage on Chuck for best!) Post your thoughts in the comments...
(Originally published on Oct. 23, 2008, at 8:16 a.m. PT)