Tara Reid Remembers Some Gossip: 'Dating' Tommy Lee and 'Beefing' with Lindsay Lohan

Let’s Remember Some Gossip is a new series in which we revisit the juiciest gossip of yesteryear, with the celebrities who simply cannot forget it.

For decades now, actor Tara Reid has been a target of tabloid drama—particularly during the late ‘90s and early ‘00s, after she made a name for herself with roles in American Pie, The Big Lebowski and, objectively the best movie of all time, Josie and the Pussycats. “Back when I was younger, I played hard; I worked hard,” Reid tells Jezebel over the phone when I ask about those days. “What girl in her 20s that makes all this money isn’t going to go out and have fun when she’s not working? I lived my college years through Hollywood. No one can prepare your for being famous.”

Now, Reid spends her days participating in virtual mask campaigns to raise money for PPE and preparing for a post-coronavirus projects. “I’m producing films,” she says, referring to her recently-announced film Masha’s Mushroom, for which she will produce and star alongside Kill Bill’s Vivica A. Fox.

And while Reid’s days of regular TMZ coverage maybe in the past, when I ask Reid to tell me the craziest piece of gossip she’s ever heard about herself, she’s quick to answer with the one she’s currently dealing with. “I’m going through it right now. It’s the most crazy gossip in the world with the Tara Reade news,” she says, explaining that she’s been confused with Tara Reade, the former Joe Biden staffer who has accused him of sexual assault:

“I don’t go on Twitter that much, but all of the sudden I’m on Twitter and all of these messages are coming in and they are like, ‘Why are you doing this to him? How can you do this?’ [and] ‘You must be Republican because you’re trying to ruin the Democractic party.’ And I’m so not political. I had no idea there was another Tara Reade; I thought they were making up such gossip. Like, ‘You’re going to put me with Joe Biden, really guys? You’ve gone far enough with other things but this has gone above and beyond.’ And then I read all these horrible stories [about what he allegedly] did and I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s horrible.’ My fans on Twitter [are] trying to protect me. ‘I’m so sorry Tara, don’t listen to these other people, you’re doing the right thing. Tell your story.’ It got crazy. And then I finally said, ‘Look, I want to clear my name. I’m not involved in this at all. I’m not associated with this.’ First of all, it’s another Tara Reade. It’s not even spelled the same way. She’s like 60 years old. We’re nothing alike. Come on, guys. Get it together. And it’s still going on.

In the past, most gossip headlines about Tara Reid dealt with her romantic or social life, most of which she maintains was false. When I ask if she dated Mötley Crüe’s Tommy Lee, as reported in the early ’00s, she denied it. “Never, never, never, never. It’s so funny. He was, like, my next-door neighbor. Sometimes I’d go out with him. He’s such a nice guy, we would laugh at it,” she says. “You know what it is? When two famous people hang out, everyone thinks they’re dating. It’s not true. You can’t go out, as a friend, to dinner. Or anywhere else. The gossip is the picture—you’re hugging someone and it’ll look like you’re kissing. It’s unbelievable how the papers spin stuff.”

When asked about the most absurd romantic rumor she’s heard, she said, “Tommy Lee was probably the craziest. Tom Brady was real. All the guys from Europe were obviously real but they weren’t famous. Who else did they say I was dating?” she asks. “Fred Durst? That wasn’t true. He’s a friend of mine.” I told her that I read she dated Friends’ David Schwimmer, which she also denied: “No, I’ve only met him like once. I met him at a wedding, when I was with an old manager. Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston were still together. My manager represented all of them at the time. I actually went with my boyfriend [to the wedding.] I think I went with Carson [Daly]. It was so silly.”

And finally, I asked her if there was any truth to reports that she and Lindsay Lohan had beef with each other. In 2013, she told TMZ, “We don’t really like each other that much. If I get drunk, I’m a happy drunk. When she gets drunk, she’s just mean.” Over the phone, Reid explained, “Lindsay is so much younger than me. I saw her out all the time, but we were never friends. She’s at least 10 years younger than me. That’s when I was 25 and she was 15, getting into those clubs. I’m definitely not going to be with a little kid. She was in, like, Parent Trap.” She continued:

“I think if people actually put the timeline together with a lot of things, they just don’t make sense. You say it enough and people believe it. There’s nothing you can do, I don’t control the tabloids… At the end of the day, even if you’re out and having fun, as long as you’re working on set, everyone else is doing the same thing. You’ve never read one story of me getting in trouble while I was working. Lindsay did, obviously. She didn’t show up to set. You’ll never read that about me. I’m very professional when it comes to work.”

And there you have it. Most relationships are fake and Tara Reid (not R-E-A-D-E) is a professional!