Ridicule greets Lohan’s Monroe remake

An attempt by the photographer Bert Stern to recreate a famous nude photoshoot with Marilyn Monroe in 1962, using the troubled young actress Lindsay Lohan, has been greeted with ridicule. Lohan, it is generally agreed, doesn't have Marilyn's body, her face or her charisma. As for the blonde wig, it makes her look like a drag queen, said one of the kinder critics.

Stern was persuaded to shoot the 'remake' with the 21-year-old star of Mean Girls and Freaky Friday by New York magazine whose website crashed on Monday before the public discovered how disappointing the pictures were.

The original shoot, commissioned by American Vogue, took place over three days in 1962 at the Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles, six weeks before Marilyn was found dead from an overdose of barbiturates. Marilyn was naked, and the only props were a selection of scarves, jewellery and a steady flow of champagne.

Stern, now 78, photographed Lohan at the same hotel but was keen to stress that there was no alcohol on the set this time. Lohan has been in and out of rehab after two arrests last year on drink driving and cocaine charges.