May 06, 2023
Pamela Anderson says she found ‘Pam & Tommy’ show ‘crushing’
Pamela Anderson hasn’t bothered to watch “Pam & Tommy,” the Hulu series which
Pamela Anderson hasn't bothered to watch "Pam & Tommy," the Hulu series which recounts one of the most infamous chapters of her life: The theft and spread of an eight-minute sex tape recorded with then husband Tommy Lee in 1995.
"I refuse to watch it," Anderson said in a recent interview with Variety.
Still, the former "Baywatch" star said the miniseries, which received widespread acclaim and garnered 10 Emmy award nominations, has affected her emotionally. She compared the show to "salt on the wound."
Until the interview — and forthcoming memoir and documentary — Anderson has remained largely quiet about the miniseries. Now, she's saying the creators "owe (her) a public apology."
"Pam & Tommy" was made without Anderson and Lee's involvement. The show's creator, Robert Siegel, and star James said they reached out to Anderson without receiving a response.
"It was just shocking," she said of the show.
Privately, she connected with Lee, who was less ruffled ("Tommy probably thought it was funny," she said). They divorced in 1998 and share sons Brandon Thomas Lee and Dylan Jagger Lee.
"I remember Tommy writing me a note saying, ‘Don't let this hurt you like it did the first time,’ because he had heard through the kids that I was kind of struggling with the idea of bringing this all up again," she said.
While she didn't see the show, Anderson couldn't avoid the promotional material, including billboards featuring actors Sebastian Stan as Lee and James wearing prosthetics to emulate a younger version of Anderson. She compared the images to a "Halloween costume."
Still, despite the stings and retraumatization of it all, Anderson isn't holding a grudge — at least not towards James, who earned an Emmy nod for her portrayal.
In fact, she asked Netflix to invite James to the premiere of her documentary.
"I think it's hard to play somebody when you don't know the whole picture. I’ve got nothing against Lily James. I think that she's a beautiful girl and she was just doing the job. But the idea of the whole thing happening was just really crushing for me," she said.
This article was originally published on TODAY.com