Hollywood actress Lindsay Lohan claims she has been the victim of racial profiling and discrimination since converting to Islam.
Speaking to Piers Morgan, the actress claims she was targeted and harassed by customs officials at Heathrow Airport, after they mistook her for a Muslim woman because she was wearing a headscarf.
“When I was flying to New York recently. I was wearing a headscarf and I got stopped at the airport and was racially profiled for the first time in my life.”
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“She opened my passport and saw Lindsay Lohan and started apologizing but said ‘take off your head scarf’.”
Dailymail.co.uk reports:
‘I did, I mean it’s OK. But what scared me was that moment, how would another woman who doesn’t feel comfortable taking off her headscarf feel? That was really interesting to me. I was kind of in shock.
‘I can’t speak for what the purpose of it was. But it was jarring. I got double checked until she realised. No [I’d never had that before]. It was strange. It did [freak me out]. I’m from New York, born and raised. I was a little intimidated.’
Lindsay was wearing the garment as she had flown from Turkey where she had met with the country’s President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
The star said she wore the item out of respect for the people of Turkey and kept it on at the airport because it made her less likely to be recognised.
A representative for Heathrow told MailOnline: ‘Heathrow respects the cultural and religious needs of all passengers travelling through the airport.
‘We work hard to provide our passengers with great service while ensuring everyone remains safe and secure.’
Rumours have been circulating for some time that Lindsay has converted to Islam, however, she was coy when pressed by Piers.
She said: ‘I think that me studying the Quran is something I found solace in. You can’t just convert to a religion overnight. I just study it, nothing is confirmed yet.
‘Religion is a personal belief, my sister’s a Buddhist. I don’t want to speak on something I haven’t finished yet. I find a solace in studying not just the Quran but meditation.
‘The Islamic culture, I feel it’s a family to me, they’ve been really good people to me. I want to learn the language so I can discuss situations with them (Syrian issues). It calms me. It’s something I’m interested in.’
