Lindsay Lohan may have only been a child when she nearly starred on Bette Midler’s television show, but that didn’t stop the legendary singer from nearly suing Lohan when the project didn’t work out.

Reflecting on the situation recently, Midler admits she wishes she took the child star to court.

While appearing on David Duchovny’s Fail Better podcast earlier this week, Midler reflected on her career regrets and fails, saying that not being more assertive when Lindsay abandoned her show Bette is something that still haunts her.

Bette Says Lindsay Is The Reason Her Show Failed

The CBS series Bette debuted in 2000, running for a brief 18 episodes before it faced cancellation following its first season. Lohan joined the cast to portray Bette’s daughter and was featured in the pilot episode before departing to explore other career opportunities.

However, her exit seemingly caused the show to tank. Her role was taken over by actress Marina Malota, who didn’t resonate as well with the audience, likely because she didn’t carry the same star power that Lindsay had at the height of her career in her teen years.

Midler seems to agree with this sentiment, admitting that Lindsay’s exit caused significant disruption to the production.

“Lindsay Lohan was cast as my daughter in the pilot,” she explained. “Well, after the pilot, Lindsay Lohan decided she didn’t want to do it, or she had other fish to fry. So Lindsay Lohan left the building – and I said, ‘Well, now what do you do?’”

Bette Thinks She Could’ve Successfully Sued Lindsay

While Midler says Lindsay’s contract should’ve prevented her from backing out that late in the game, her team found a loophole that allowed her to leave, though Bette may have had luck if she’d challenged it in court.

“If I had been in my right mind, or if I had known that my duties were to stand up and say, ‘This absolutely will not do, I’m gonna sue,’ then I would have done that,” she continued.

Nevertheless, Midler says Lindsay likely wasn’t the only reason the show didn’t get picked up for a second season, noting she had an issue with production and was unable to influence the show’s writing like she wanted. “I seemed to have been [blocked] in some way, that I couldn’t get to the writer’s room,” the singer said.

“I couldn’t make myself clear – and there were so many competing personalities,” she continued. “I couldn’t speak to the showrunner. I couldn’t make myself clear – and there were so many competing personalities.”

Lindsay hasn’t responded to Bette’s recent comments, but there’s no denying the actress’s career continued to flourish after leaving the sitcom, although her fall from Hollywood’s grace was only a few years away as her legal troubles caught up with her. However, fans have been thrilled to see Lindsay make a career resurgence in recent years, though it’s doubtful she’ll ever work with Bette Midler again.