Entertainment> Celebrities

Dina Lohan's 'Top Mom' honor brings bad press to mommy group

(Agencies)
2008-05-08 09:06

In this May 8, 2007 file photo, Dina Lohan, mother of actress Lindsay Lohan, arrives for the premiere of 'Georgia Rule,' in New York. [Agencies]

The founder of an organization that honored Dina Lohan as a "Top Mom" says things "spun out of control" when the media focused all its attention on the tabloid magnet.

Mingling Moms, a networking group for Long Island mothers, celebrated Lindsay Lohan's mom and others with famous children Tuesday night at its "Girls' Night Out" party at Carlyle on the Green in Farmingdale, N.Y.

"It just spun out of control," Mingling Moms president Erica Logiudice told The Associated Press on Wednesday. "The press is welcome to be there — I mean, we want it to be out there. But what they did was they kept badgering me, `Why Dina Lohan? Why Dina Lohan?'"

Logiudice said Lohan made the cut in an online survey asking voters to select Long Island's top 20 moms of celebrities. The moms of Alec Baldwin, Natalie Portman and Mariah Carey were also nominated.

Lohan was swarmed by reporters at Tuesday's event. The celebrity Web site TMZ posted video of Lohan with the headline "Dina Lohan Massacres Mother's Day." When asked what advice she's given her actress-daughter Lindsay, Lohan responded: "Just to stay yourself and just to be honest. ... And if you do something, we're all imperfect, and if you make a mistake, you'll make up for it."

Lohan's mothering skills have been criticized by everyone from Rosie O'Donnell to celeb blogger Perez Hilton. The Merrick, N.Y., resident has been blamed for her daughter Lindsay's public missteps, which included a stint in a Utah rehab after two arrests last summer on drunken driving and cocaine charges.

"Dina was lovely, she was nice, we were glad she was there," said Logiudice, who formed Mingling Moms six years ago.

But Logiudice said the attention around Lohan distracted from the true purpose of the event: to bring moms together for a fun time and raise money for breast cancer research. A portion of the proceeds went to the F.A.C.T. foundation, a Long Island-based breast cancer charity.

"This is such a good thing I tried to do, and I worked for so long on it," said Loguidice, who said the organization has been getting hate mail on its Web site. "And to wake up and see all this nonsense, it's just upsetting, you know?"