Barbara Walters slams Lindsay Lohan for backing out of interview

Barbara Walters is very "disappointed" in Lindsay Lohan.

After committing to a sit-down for "20/20" with the veteran journalist, the troubled starlet backed out. Instead, her first interview to promote "Liz & Dick," her Lifetime biopic about Elizabeth Taylor's romance with Richard Burton, will be a fluff piece with Jay Leno on "The Tonight Show."

Walters griped to her costars on Monday's (Nov. 12) episode of "The View" that she had already invested "some time and some expense" to their interview, flying out to the "Liz & Dick" set last June for footage to include in the piece.

"I had done many interviews with Elizabeth Taylor," she explained. "I wanted to talk about the comparison between her life as a child star with Lindsay's."

"Even then the producers were a little worried about her ability to finish the film," she noted, before showing a clip of Lindsay addressing her "exhaustion" at the time.

"It was a lot of hours but it was also my first time back," Lindsay tells Walters about the 911 summons after producers had trouble waking her. "I'm a survivor. I think I was just honestly tired. I needed a nap for 15 minutes, and there were seven paramedics in my room. Imagine how I felt. I'm fine."

"We were supposed to do the interview last week to air on 20/20 Nov. 16," Walters told "The View" ladies. "I spent a lot of time doing a lot of homework, watching the movie. Then her longtime press agent resigned. That should've been a clue.

"The next thing we hear is my interview is canceled [because ] Lindsay doesn't feel up to it. She has a lot of problems ... I said, 'Poor girl, I hope when she feels like it she will do it with us.' So today I pick up the paper [and find out Lindsay] is sitting for an interview with Jay Leno."

If her PR group had been forthright, Walters continued, "I wouldn't feel quite as disappointed as I do today. I think I could've had a more honest explanation.

"It would have been a wonderful, wonderful interview, and she could have set a lot of things straight ... I think I would've helped her."

"Liz & Dick" premieres Sunday, Nov. 25, at 9 p.m. on Lifetime.