“This interview was clearly intended as comedy”: Anthony Anderson breaks silence on resurfaced controversy with Lindsay Lohan

Anthony Anderson is facing criticism for a 2003 interview with Lindsay Lohan that resurfaced online recently, which has been criticized for its cringeworthy tone and off-color comments.

The viral clip, which originated during Anderson's guest-hosting gig on The Sharon Osbourne Show, features the actor at the time, then 33, making comments about 17-year-old Lohan, including the comment that some men prefer them young.

Now, more than twenty years on, as Lindsay Lohan returns to the screen in Disney's Freakier Friday, Anderson has responded to the fallout of the interview through a publicist. According to the publicist, the interview was meant to be a joke, though it may not have aged well. He said:

"Anthony was quite clearly doing this as comedy."

Anthony Anderson's representative further clarified the same in a statement to Entertainment Weekly:

"He apologizes if the humor was bad, and he has the utmost respect for Lindsay. Any suggestion to the contrary is both false and possibly defamatory."

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What did Anthony Anderson say to Lindsay Lohan during his interview?

The 2003 episode in question occurred when Anthony Anderson guest-hosted on The Sharon Osbourne Show, interviewing young Lindsay Lohan as part of her promotional tour for Freaky Friday.

Throughout the interview, Anderson constantly made jokes concerning Lohan's romantic life and her shared living arrangement with fellow Disney star Raven-Symoné, questioning:

"What gentlemen will be at the new pad with you and Raven-Symoné?"

Lindsay Lohan responded that she wasn't dating anyone, to which Anthony Anderson addressed the audience by saying that she was "single, but looking!" When Lindsay Lohan nervously reminded him of her age, saying, "I'm illegal for people that are old," Anderson responded with:

"I'm illegal for people that are old," Anderson responded, "Some men like them young. We ain't gonna mention no names, but I'm one of them."

The clip has resurfaced, with many social media users pointing to the uncomfortable age gap and tone of the exchange. A separate moment in the interview also drew criticism, with Anderson wrapping his arms around Lohan while transitioning to a commercial break by saying:

“Right now, we’re about to get our freak on,” in reference to her film Freaky Friday.

Following the controversy, the spokesperson for Anthony Anderson again insisted the remarks were made in jest and that the timing was consistent with the satirical style of humor typical among daytime talk shows during that period.

Nonetheless, the added attention occurs at a period when the entertainment industry continues to reassess previous on-air interactions and how young celebrities were treated in the press.

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More details on Lindsay Lohan's Freakier Friday explored

The coincidental release of the archived Anthony Anderson interview coincides with Lindsay Lohan's new and much-publicized return to Disney in Freakier Friday, the highly anticipated sequel to the 2003 body-swap comedy favorite.

Nisha Ganatra directs and Jordan Weiss writes the 2025 fantasy-comedy, which returns Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis to the screen as mother-daughter pair Anna and Tess Coleman.

In Freakier Friday, the Coleman family body-swapping curse is back, this time affecting three generations. Lohan's Anna is an adult woman navigating motherhood and a blended family, while Julia Butters portrays her daughter, Harper. Sophia Hammons plays Harper's future stepsister Lily, and The Good Place's Manny Jacinto stars as Anna's fiancé.

The movie also reunites some of the stars from the original 2003 film, such as Mark Harmon, Chad Michael Murray, Christina Vidal Mitchell, and Lucille Soong. Rosalind Chao returns as mystical restaurant owner Pei-Pei, with Vanessa Bayer and Maitreyi Ramakrishnan added to the new cast.

Freakier Friday opened at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles on July 22, 2025, and will have a wide release on August 8.

Along with the retro casting, Freakier Friday brings back fans to Take Me Away, the rock song first sung by Lohan's make-believe band, Pink Slip. A new rendition of the song was made available on July 11 by Hollywood Records, treating old-time fans to a blast of early-2000s nostalgia with a contemporary twist.

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For the unversed, Freakier Friday is set to release on August 8, 2025.