Lindsay Lohan claims she was ‘racially profiled’ while wearing a headscarf at Heathrow airport

'How would another woman who doesn't feel comfortable taking off her headscarf feel? That was really interesting to me. I mean, I was kind of in shock,' says actor

Lindsay Lohan has claimed she was “racially profiled” at London Heathrow airport while wearing a headscarf.

The actor said security ordered her to remove her scarf while queuing up for a flight to New York, having recently returned from Turkey.

The 30-year-old said the airport worker apologised as soon as she saw the name “Lindsay Lohan” in her passport.

“I was wearing a headscarf and I got stopped at the airport and racially profiled for the first time in my life,” she said on ITV’s Good Morning Britain on Tuesday.

“She opened my passport and saw ‘Lindsay Lohan’ and started immediately apologising but then said, ‘Please take off your head scarf.’”

“And I did. I mean, it's okay,” she continued. “But what scared me was, is that moment, how would another woman who doesn't feel comfortable taking off her headscarf feel? That was really interesting to me. I mean, I was kind of in shock.”

After host Piers Morgan probed about whether the incident had “freaked her out”, Lohan responded: “It did, I’m from New York, I was born and raised there so I was a little intimidated.”

The actor, who is best known for her roles in Parent Trap and Mean Girls, said the incident was “jarring”.

Lohan said she was wearing a headscarf out of “respect” because she was returning from Turkey, where she had a meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In recent months, Lohan has spoken out on behalf of refugees fleeing war-torn Syria.

Lohan was also questioned about rumours she is converting to Islam. The actor emphasised the fact she was interested in all religions but made it clear she had a special affinity for Islam, saying she was considering converting.

“I do study it, nothing is confirmed yet...” the actor said when pressed about speculation she was converting on the programme. “It’s a consideration I have”.

“In Islamic culture, I feel like it’s a family to me, a lot of my friends are Arab and they’ve been really good people to me,” she added.

Lohan said she was keen to learn Arabic so she could be on the “same page” as her friends who speak the language.