Anthony Anderson has responded to recent backlash over a resurfaced interview with a 17-year-old Lindsay Lohan in which the actor asks the young star about her dating habits.
Anderson filled in for Sharon Osbourne on The Sharon Osbourne Show on Dec. 16, 2003. During his interview — ripped portions of which are currently circulating online — the actor asks Lohan about her home life, to which she replies that she’s moved in with her friend Raven-Symoné.
“Both of you are beautiful women. Both of you are young and have your individual styles,” Anderson observes, before Lohan tells him about the differences in decor inside their home.
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Anthony Anderson
Then, Anderson, who was 33 at the time of the interview, asks, “What gentlemen will be at the new pad with you and Raven-Symoné?”
Lohan replies, “No one. I don’t have a boyfriend.” Anderson then looks toward the audience and exclaims, “She’s single, but looking!”
The actress, then a minor, quickly clarifies that “I’m illegal, for people that are old.”
Anderson replies, “Some men like them young. We ain’t gonna mention no names, but I’m one of them.” He and the audience then laugh.
Later in the interview, Anderson touts Lohan’s starring role in the 2003 comedy Freaky Friday before sending the show to a commercial break by telling viewers “right now, we’re about to get our freak on” as he moves closer toward Lohan on the couch they’re sitting on and puts his arms around her while she puts her hands over her mouth.
“This interview was clearly intended as comedy. He regrets if the humor was in poor taste and maintains the utmost respect for Lindsay,” a spokesperson tells Entertainment Weekly via email on behalf of Anderson. “Any implication to the contrary is both inaccurate and potentially defamatory.”
After the video surfaced, users on X responded with shock. One wrote, “It just kept getting worse… and worse,” while another wrote, “My jaw is still on the floor.”
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Anthony Anderson hosting ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’
Another user responded to the clip by asking, “Is it a rule that to be successful in Hollywood you have to be a complete creep?”
Other commenters pointed out that Anderson has been accused of rape in the past, including for alleged behavior in Tennessee in 2004, where Anderson shot the 2005 film Hustle & Flow.
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In an archived CNN article, a representative for the actor at the time said the star “absolutely denies the heinous charges that have been made against him,” and that “Anthony is a happily married family man who has never been accused of — no less involved in — anything remotely like this, and we are confident that when all the facts come out, he will be completely exonerated.” The charges were later dropped, Variety reported.
“In regard to your request for comment regarding previous decades-old allegations, they have been thoroughly investigated and determined to be entirely meritless,” Anderson’s spokesperson tells EW in a statement. “Any attempt to conflate unsubstantiated allegations with this interview is slanderous.”
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