There’s a reason that “Where are they now?” stories are so popular. When an “It” girl of the past (a Lindsay Lohan, an Avril Lavigne or an Amanda Bynes) gradually falls off the radar, it can be easy to forget them altogether — that is, until they stumble into the public consciousness again with the promise of a jewelry line, a headscratching comment about racial profiling, or a colorful video game about the price of fame. At that point, the public’s gotta know: Where have you been, what have you been up to? Why are you eating the rind of this watermelon?
Lohan, America’s once-upon-a-time sweetheart and star of such early-aughts classics as The Parent Trap, Mean Girls and her film that was met with the most critical indifference, Herbie Fully Loaded, is now capitalizing on the country’s insatiable curiosity by establishing her own subscription lifestyle site, in which she promises to give fans an inside look at her “exclusive world.” Yes, it’s a move straight out of the Kardashian/Jenner app playbook.
“You will get personal diaries, video updates, exclusive personal photos, breaking news, fashion and beauty tutorials, shopping guides, behind the scenes content and much more,” promises the starlet on her profile, hosted on a new site called Preemium. Though Lohan is currently the only celebrity on the website, the content service assures readers that access to four more stars across fitness, sport, lifestyle and music is “coming soon.” (For reference, Lohan’s profile is tagged “lifestyle.”)
So what will the $2.99 per month subscription service get you? Well, as of now, there are nine posts, including a 30-second iPhone video of Lohan wearing a hot pink satin mini dress while posing for photographs in a subway titled, “Behind the scenes: Photo shoot with male model ;).” The other posts are mostly selfies and/or photos of Lohan in a headscarf.
The inaugural entry features more words than any other post, with Lohan writing, “I am in a period of renewal and that’s why I deleted all my posts from Instagram. Now you can follow me here on Preemium ;).”
Compared to the Kardashian brood’s well-produced stories, guides and other exclusive content, Lohan’s profile misses the mark and even comes across as a bit sad. But that’s not to say that people won’t buy it, at least for a one-month trial. Satisfying curiosity ain’t free.
