Lindsay Lohan may have come with a message for the Los Angeles Superior Court when she appeared for her probation revocation hearing on Tuesday, and it could spell more jail time on top of her three-month sentence. 
 
 Lohan, who was sentenced to 90 days in prison and 90 days in an in-patient rehabilitation facility for violating the terms of her probation, appeared in court with the words “f**k u” printed on her middle fingernail. 
 
 NSFW PHOTO: Click for a close-up of Lindsay Lohan’s offending fingernail. 
 
 And according to one expert, this could spell serious trouble for her sentencing, which was already triple the amount that the prosecution requested. 
 
 FOX411.com reviewed photos from three separate photo agencies — Thompson Reuters, Associated Press and Getty — all of which appeared to display the words on her middle left-hand fingernail. 
 
 RELATED: Lindsay Could Walk in a Week, Expert Says. 
 
 A Thompson Reuters rep told FOX411.com in a statement that “the images of Lindsay Lohan published yesterday by Reuters were not altered beyond the normal bit of toning to correct color balance and contrast.” 
 
 An Associated Press rep said that after discussion among their photo editors, they sent out an advisory to clients that read in part “EDS NOTE: OBSCENE LANGUAGE ON LEFT MIDDLE FINGERNAIL.” 
 
 As photos of the offending fingernail began circulating, Lohan tweeted Wednesday that the nails were a “joke” with friends and “had nothing to do with court.” 
 
 But if Lohan’s message was aimed toward the courts, “it would be a separate charge for contempt,” says New York City Public Defender Stacy Schneider. “She could have an entire extra sentence heaped on top of her current one. If the judge were angry enough, it could run even consecutively.” 
 
 FOX411: Could Message Have Been for Dad? 
 
 Los Angeles Public Defender Greg Apt echoed Schneider’s sentiments, calling Lohan’s fingernails a “creative” way to land in contempt of court. 
 
 “The judge could hold her in direct contempt, which could be between three to five days in jail for vulgarity,” if the judge deemed the words were aimed at the court, Apt said. 
 
 RELATED: Friends Concerned for Lohan’s Well Being. 
 
 At the very least, the photos could raise questions about Lohan’s sincerity and remorse for missing court-mandated alcohol education classes, for which she tearfully apologized Tuesday. 
 
 “I did the best I could,” Lohan, 24, told Revel, before sobbing at her sentencing. “I did do everything I was told to do and did the best I could to balance jobs and showing up. It wasn’t vacation, it wasn’t some sort of a joke.” 
 
 But before Revel was likely even aware of Lohan’s fingernail message, she said Lohan’s apology was insincere, comparing it to “somebody who cheats and thinks it isn’t cheating if she doesn’t get caught.” 
 
 PHOTOS: Stars Behind Bars. 
 
 Still, in spite of the gravity of the situation, Lohan appeared calm and collected when she arrived at the hearing. Why? Sources close to Lohan told Fox411.com’s Pop Tarts column that she never expected to get more than a slap on the wrist. And, according to Schneider, while it’s unclear whether the message on her nails was meant for the judge, the mere fact that she would not remove it before a high profile appearance is “the most outrageous thing” she could have done. 
 
 Schneider also slammed Lohan’s lawyer, Shawn Chapman Holley, for failing to prevent her client from entering the courtroom with the profane message. 
 
 “It’s up to her lawyer to catch things like that,” she said. “A bra strap that shows or a boxer line that shows is pretty bad, but this tops the cake.” 
 
 Regardless of her actions, it looks like Lohan will be going to jail. She is required to surrender July 20, when she will begin serving her time. Just how long she will spend behind bars remains to be seen. 
 
 -Fox411.com’s Allison McGevna and Jo Piazza contributed to this report. ||||| Photographs from actress Lindsay Lohan's probation violation hearing today—where she was sentenced to 90 days in prison—reveal a, um, secret message from Lindsay. A secret, curse-word message. That she wrote on her fingernail. Click through for more evidence. 
 
 It's Lindsay Lohan Day! And in honor of the holiday, What Would Tyler Durden Do flags an interesting manicurial choice on Lindsay's part. What's that she has on her fingernail? Does it say... "THANK U"? What a sweet gesture to her sponsors and the firm but supportive judge, Marsha Revel! Maybe Lindsay really has... oh, wait. 
 
 Yes, Lindsay Lohan wrote "FUCK U" on her fingernail. She is making bad choices again! Molly Fitzpatrick, Gawker intern and noted expert in the Probation Violation Hearing of the Century, says: 
 
 She did spend a lot of time writing/doodling/otherwise fiddling with a pen. I wouldn't be too surprised if she added that to her manicure during the hearing... It did seem at times like her lawyer might be intentionally positioning herself between Lohan and the cameras 
 
 Don't believe your own eyes? Here's the full-size image from Getty Images (which means it's straight from the photo agency and has not been Photoshopped). Click to enlarge: 
 
 
 
 
 
 And a zoom on the fingernail in question: 
 
 
 
 
 
 And here are more images from the trial, where you can clearly see the writing on her nail (again, click to enlarge): 
 
 
 
 
 
 [Photos via Getty Images] ||||| By Jen Heger – Radar Assistant Managing Editor 
 
 Lindsay Lohan is “freaked out” about the prospect of spending time behind bars during the Christmas and New Year’s holidays and has told her lawyer to do whatever it takes to make sure the starlet isn’t sent back to jail for violating her probation, RadarOnline.com is exclusively reporting. 
 
 “Lindsay is absolutely freaked out about the possibility of going back to jail because she allegedly violated her probation in her necklace theft case when she was formally charged with lying top cops after a horrific car crash last summer in Santa Monica. Lindsay knows it’s almost a foregone conclusion that even if she admits to the probation violation without having a formal hearing, and throws herself at the mercy of the judge, she would be sentenced to significant jail time,” a source close to the situation tells RadarOnline.com exclusively. 
 
 PHOTOS: Lindsay Lohan Arrested For Assault In NYC 
 
 “Lindsay’s arraignment for the new charges is scheduled for December 15, and she isn’t required to appear because she was charged with misdemeanors. However, the judge could order her to appear because of her lengthy criminal history. Lindsay is facing about 253 days behind bars, if she is found guilty of violating her probation, and she would serve 25% of that sentence because of overcrowding in jails in Los Angeles. Lindsay would serve about 63 days behind bars. Lindsay was locked up in 2010 for 13 days for violating probation in her DUI case, and said it was the darkest time of her life. If Lindsay could sell a body part to keep her out of jail, she would. She is that desperate about the thought of going back to jail,” the insider added. 
 
 PHOTOS: Lindsay Lohan’s Mugshot Hall Of Fame 
 
 Last Thursday — the same day the Liz & Dick star, 26, was arrested for allegedly punching Tiffany Mitchell at a club in New York City — she was formally charged in Los Angeles, with providing false information to authorities, reckless driving and obstructing or resisting a police officer in the performance of his duty. 
 
 The troubled actress told cops she was a passenger in the Porsche that crashed into the back of a big-rig truck on the Pacific Coast Highway in Santa Monica, California this past summer, but the police investigation later revealed she was actually the driver. 
 
 PHOTOS: Lindsay Lohan’s Shocking Bad Hair Day 
 
 The charges are a direct violation of her 2011 probation in connection with her conviction for stealing jewelry from a Venice boutique. 
 
 “Lohan isn’t taking the new criminal charges in Los Angeles seriously. She will plead guilty to the new charges if she is guaranteed by the judge that she won’t go to jail. Lindsay feels that she has a fantastic attorney in Shawn Holley who will be able to work her legal prowess and make this all go away, again,” the insider says. 
 
 PHOTOS: Lindsay Lohan Shows Off Retro Two-Piece In Malibu 
 
 In regard to her latest arrest last week, Lindsay was taken into custody around 4 a.m. on Thursday morning in Manhattan after allegedly punching clubgoer Tiffany Mitchell in the face at Avenue nightclub. 
 
 “Lindsay went wild. She was kicking and screaming, cursing at the girl and then spit at her. The girl looked like she wanted to fight back at Lindsay, but was too startled by all the commotion to react. Lindsay was completely out of control. She was drinking way too much booze and was doing cocaine,” a source previously told RadarOnline.comexclusively. 
 
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 Michael Lohan Tweets After Lindsay’s Arrest: ‘I Have Tried And Tried’ ||||| MEREDITH VIEIRA, co-host: We are back at 8:09 with the first messages from Lindsay Lohan since she was sentenced to 90 days in jail. Last night on Twitter , Lohan wrote to a friend about that expletive that was on her middle finger, saying, "Didn't we do our nails as a joke with our friend DC ? It had nothing to do with court . It's an airbrush design from a stencil." Later she tweeted this, perhaps a reference 
 
 to her own punishment: "No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment." So what will Lohan 's life be like behind bars? Here's NBC's George Lewis . 
 
 GEORGE LEWIS reporting: Lindsay Lohan looked shocked as she was sentenced. 
 
 Unidentified Judge: That's 90 days in jail. 
 
 LEWIS: Ninety days at the Linwood Women 's Facility south of downtown Los Angeles . And what's life at this place going to be like for Lohan ? 
 
 Ms. WENDY FELDMAN: I would tell her, get ready to just give it all up. 
 
 LEWIS: Wendy Feldman , a former stock broker who went to federal prison for securities fraud, now councils people on how to survive jail time. 
 
 Ms. FELDMAN: She will be confined, and that will be very, very difficult. 
 
 LEWIS: Lohan will be housed alone in a 12-by-eight-foot jail cell like this one, with her own toilet and wash basin. She won't be permitted to use her cell phone or the Internet , no Twitter . The sheriff's department plans to keep her apart from the rest of the prisoners for her own protection. A probation report just made public notes Lohan has been using a number of prescription drugs , including the stimulant Adderall for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and the pain killer Dilaudid , prescribed by a dentist who removed her wisdom teeth last month. Now it will be up to authorities to decide whether Lohan gets to continue using those prescriptions. 
 
 FELDMAN: Everybody knows your business. And the bottom line is how you going to recover? What are you going to do after this? 
 
 LEWIS: Paris Hilton did time at the same jail three years ago for violating her probation. 
 
 Ms. PARIS HILTON: The most humiliating experience of my life. 
 
 LEWIS: After she got out, Hilton told CNN 's Larry King about that experience. 
 
 Ms. HILTON: I was having severe panic attacks, anxiety attacks, my claustrophobia was kicking in. 
 
 LEWIS: When actors in trouble for drugs and alcohol throw themselves on the mercy of the court ... 
 
 Ms. LINDSAY LOHAN: I did do everything that I was told to do and did the best I could to, you know, balance jobs and showing up. I'm sorry. 
 
 LEWIS: ...it just doesn't seem to work. After Tom Sizemore made this emotional statement a few years back... 
 
 Mr. TOM SIZEMORE: I deserve a second chance, sir. Thank you. 
 
 LEWIS: ...he got more than a year in jail, plus rehab . Some do turn their lives around. After jail and rehab , Robert Downey Jr. kicked his heroin habit and resumed his successful movie career. Mr. ROBERT DOWNEY JR .: It's about hopefully we're leaving here to bring ourselves back to our lives as more principled people. 
 
 LEWIS: And now the same challenge awaits Lindsay Lohan . For TODAY, George Lewis , NBC News, Los Angeles . 
 
 VIEIRA: So will jail time and rehab help Lindsay Lohan save her career? MSNBC.com media analyst Steve Adubato is the author of "What Were They Thinking?" and Dr. Julie Holland is a psychiatrist and drug expert and the author of "Weekends at Bellevue." Good morning to you both. 
 
 Mr. STEVE ADUBATO (Media Analyst, MSNBC.COM): Good morning, Meredith . 
 
 Dr. JULIE HOLLAND (Psychiatrist Drug Expert): Good morning. 
 
 VIEIRA: Julie , if I -- good morning. If I can start with you. In March of this year, Lindsay Lohan said about her stints in rehab -- she referred to them as a vacation. Do you think that jail will force her to take the severity of her situation more seriously? 
 
 Dr. HOLLAND: Well, I think hopefully it will do that. And I imagine that's what the judge is thinking. I mean, the judge has said that she's been deflecting blame and not really taking responsibility for her behavior, so she'll have some time to really think about that and hopefully take personal accountability for what's been going on. 
 
 VIEIRA: Yeah. And she'll follow this 90 days in jail with 90 days in a rehab center. Back in 2007 , I believe it was, she spent 45 days in rehab and then two weeks after getting out she was arrested for DUI and possession of cocaine. So you have to wonder how successful these rehab programs are. 
 
 Dr. HOLLAND: Right. Well, you know, the rehab -- the whole recovery industry really is -- sort of is in crisis right now. I mean, they've got an abstinence-based model, which is a little bit outdated. It may make more sense for them to embrace a harm reduction model where abstinence isn't necessarily the goal, but what you look for is a healthier behavior, a safer behavior, incremental changes that you can get behind instead of insisting on abstinence. 
 
 VIEIRA: Well... 
 
 Dr. HOLLAND: I mean, most people are in and out of rehabs. I mean, it's a chronic illness, there's relapses, there's recovery. 
 
 VIEIRA: But if you're an addict... 
 
 Dr. HOLLAND: It's not uncommon. She... 
 
 VIEIRA: ...can -- if you're an addict, can you be a little bit of an addict? I mean, are you suggesting just give them a little bit of alcohol or a little bit of drugs? 
 
 Dr. HOLLAND: It's not -- it's -- the problem is that these abstinence-based rehab programs aren't having very high success rates because the benchmark for success is total abstinence . And it may make sense to just, you know, applaud any changes toward health, any changes toward growth and to embrace a more harm reduction-oriented model. 
 
 VIEIRA: OK, anything that may help her along the way. Steve , I want to talk about her career at this point. Movie producers , so far they're saying they're sticking with her. Is that a good idea? 
 
 Mr. ADUBATO: Well, look, I understand them saying that, Meredith , because that's what they have to say publicly. But let's be candid here. In a difficult economy, would you invest $50 million on a movie with Lindsay Lohan being the lead character? Would you do that, given her track record? Would you do that given the fact that she couldn't even do the court -mandated appearances she was supposed to do? She missed not one, two, three, four, five -- seven of them. Her excuses are sickening. They get old, they get tired. `I didn't know. Oh that wasn't -- I didn't mean that on my finger.' My point is this. If you're a movie producer , if you're someone who's investing your life's blood into this, she's not the one you're going to invest in. My advice to her is do some independent stuff, do some things that there's not a lot of money involved for yourself. But she has to rehabilitate herself physically, emotionally, psychologically. And in terms of her career, forget about a big movie. That should be the last thing on her mind. 
 
 VIEIRA: So should she model herself after somebody like a Robert Downey Jr. ? 
 
 Mr. ADUBATO: Like a Robert Downey -- the problem was Robert Downey Jr. had a great track record as an adult actor. So even though he seriously -- he had a serious problem, we saw that he did really good things as an actor. She, I mean, was -- you know, there was " Freaky Friday ," there was " Mean Girls ." But it's been years since she has been a success. When she said she was working, in court , I'm thinking, `What were you doing?' Being filmed and having the paparazzi take your picture, that's not working. Working is what we're doing. She hasn't been working. My point is, she doesn't have a reputation as a working actress, and that's a terrible thing. Her brand is in serious trouble. You don't need me to say that. I would argue that the has to do some things off -- way off Broadway , some films... 
 
 VIEIRA: To rebuild the brand essentially. 
 
 Mr. ADUBATO: Slowly, and prove that she can get through a job. These excuses have to end, and people are getting tired of it. 
 
 VIEIRA: And, Julie , what does she need to do -- first thing she needs to do to make this rehab work this time? 
 
 Dr. HOLLAND: Well, she has to really want to make changes, and she has to sort of accept that she has a problem and she's got to work it. I think, you know, the court -- she's had a couple of court -ordered rehabs that really didn't go very well. She started using again as soon as she got out. So, you know, the first thing is she may be in denial, and she really has to accept that she's got a problem and she needs help. 
 
 VIEIRA: And what about the people around her, the enablers? How does she avoid them? 
 
 Dr. HOLLAND: Right. I mean, we've talked about this with other, you know, child stars who get a lot of attention, a lot of adulation, and people are giving them drugs, they want to party with them. It's going to be very -- she's really going to have to make huge changes in her life and how she spends her time if she wants to stay sober. 
 
 VIEIRA: All right. 
 
 Mr. ADUBATO: And it seems to me she has to acknowledge that she has hit rock bottom. And after watching her in court , I hate to call it a performance, it was an embarrassing performance. And she doesn't appear to in any way, Meredith , believe that she is recountable, she is responsible, because there's a million reasons why -- everyone did -- she didn't do it. Take responsibility. 
 
 VIEIRA: Well, we all hope that she does that...
– Lindsay Lohan’s “f*** u” fingernail message might have been a “joke” to her, but it could land the troubled actress in jail for even longer than her 90-day sentence. It was a “creative” and “outrageous” way to land a contempt of court charge, two public defenders tell Fox News. One says the judge could hold LiLo three to five days “for vulgarity.” Although, financially speaking, those extra days could end up helping Lindsay—click here to find out why. Another adds that if the judge—who already bestowed a sentence upon Lohan three times longer than the prosecution requested—is “angry enough,” the extra sentence could run consecutively to her current sentence. She adds, “It's up to her lawyer to catch things like that. A bra strap that shows or a boxer line that shows is pretty bad, but this tops the cake.” No, what really tops the cake is TMZ's report that LiLo called the judge a "f***ing bitch." Well, at least she had the sense to skip her planned birthday bash.