Lindsay Lohan Explains Why Life in Dubai Is Her Best Plot Twist Yet
No paparazzi, no pressure: Lindsay Lohan tells Kelly Ripa how Dubai gave her a normal life—and why she’s not looking back.
New York, July 30 EST: Lindsay Lohan has never been known for subtlety. From teen queen to tabloid chaos agent to comeback queen, she’s always lived her life at full volume. But on Wednesday’s Live with Kelly and Mark, Lohan showed up with something way more surprising than a new role or a viral quote: quiet. As it turns out, she’s built an actual normal life in Dubai and it’s all thanks to one thing you’ll never find in L.A.: privacy laws that actually work.
“You Can’t Just Take Someone’s Photo” The New Lohan Era
Lohan, now 39, didn’t sugarcoat it. The biggest reason she’s stayed in Dubai since 2014? “You can’t just be photographed without your consent.” That one line made Kelly Ripa’s jaw drop, and honestly, same.
“It’s not legal,” Lohan explained, talking about the UAE’s firm rules around photographing people in public. “You have to ask the person.” Which means no paparazzi hiding in the bushes while she grabs a croissant. No long-lens ambushes while she’s at the park with her toddler. No TMZ chasing her out of Pilates.
In a single sentence, she drew a bright line between who she was then and who she is now: a mom, a wife, and someone who doesn’t want to live in fear of becoming a meme just because she wore sweats to breakfast.
Why Hollywood Girls Are Packing Up for the Gulf
It’s not just Lohan who’s gone full UAE. There’s a quiet trend happening: ex-party girls and A-listers looking to hit reset are discovering that Dubai isn’t just gold towers and infinity pools it’s structure. It’s peace. And for someone like Lohan, who spent the 2000s being hunted by the tabloid industrial complex, that structure is freedom.
She’s been open about how bad it got in L.A. even simple outings like a park visit felt like a minefield. She told Kelly and Mark that in New York, people generally keep it moving, but Dubai goes further: it legally protects your right to be left alone.
And in 2025, that’s almost punk.
Baby, Pilates, Park: Inside Lindsay’s Low-Key Routine
This isn’t a rebrand. It’s a full character arc. Lohan says her day-to-day is simple: mornings with Luai, her two-year-old son; Pilates; maybe a park run. “It’s a very normal life,” she said, and she meant it in the best possible way.
Her husband, Bader Shammas, whom she met after moving to Dubai, works in finance. They married in 2022, and Lohan says she genuinely doubts she’d have met him or had Luai if she’d stayed in the States.
Her old life was chaos. Her new one sounds like Nancy Meyers set it in the Middle East.
Kelly Ripa’s Live Reaction Was All of Us
Ripa’s on-air shock at the no-photo laws gave the moment its pop. “They don’t have photographers there?” she asked, incredulous. Lohan answered like someone who’s had this conversation before: “No, it’s not legal.”
And just like that, one of Hollywood’s most hounded women explained how she finally slipped out of the fame machine. No need to disappear from public life just move somewhere that respects yours.
A Message Between the Lines: Fame Doesn’t Have to Eat You Alive
Lohan’s commentary felt casual, but it cut deep. The old model chase fame, get followed, lose your mind is broken. And more celebs are saying it out loud.
From Zendaya negotiating how much of her life stays offline, to Emma Stone reminding everyone she doesn’t do Instagram, to Lohan building a family far from Sunset Boulevard, the message is clear: you don’t have to sacrifice your sanity to stay relevant.
In fact, sometimes the smartest move is disappearing just enough to breathe. And if that means raising a baby in the desert, sipping lattes in peace, and doing Pilates without a single paparazzo in sight? That’s not exile. That’s a flex.
New Jersey Times Is Your Source: The Latest In Politics, Entertainment, Business, Breaking News, And Other News. Please Follow Us On Facebook, Instagram, And Twitter To Receive Instantaneous Updates. Also Do Checkout Our Telegram Channel @Njtdotcom For Latest Updates.
A bi-coastal pop culture critic and former indie screenwriter, Gia covers Hollywood, streaming wars, and subculture shifts with razor wit and Gen Z intuition. If it’s going viral, she already knew about it.
