Hulu just released a new series that follows the “love story” and sex tape scandal of Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee, which has sparked rave reviews from audiences around the world. However, Anderson herself isn’t as appreciative (and for good reason).
The series stars Lily James as the Baywatch actress Pamela Anderson and Sebastian Stan as Tommy Lee, the hardcore drummer from Mötley Crüe. Their infamous love story, a hot topic of the ’90s, is recreated and put on full display in the show. The audience sees the inside scoop on what led to the leaking of the couple’s honeymoon sex tape as well as the couple’s backstory and marriage that occurred all within the span of four days. Anderson is not happy about the recreation of what she describes to be a seriously traumatic time in her life.
The marriage of the Baywatch actress and rockstar is being depicted as an amazing love story, which is simply not the case. Their relationship was filled with drugs and abuse, not to mention the couple’s intimate collection of home videos. This collection, including their private sex tape, was stolen from their home and spread around the world. This was a dark time in Anderson’s life and she never gave Hulu permission to tell their story. Anderson even went as far as to avoid James’ efforts to reach out and talk to her about the series.
“Pam will never watch the ‘Pam and Tommy’ Hulu series,” an unnamed source told E! News. “It was a violation having this tape taken and it’s shocking that they are recreating it.”
One writer of the Hulu series, D. V. DeVincentis, also reached out to Anderson to explain that the portrayal was “very much a positive thing and that [the creators] cared a great deal about her.” He never received a response, which spoke volumes to Anderson’s disapproval of the show.
Prior to the release of her and Lee’s tape, Anderson was already a budding sex symbol to the public. The star’s time on Baywatch and various spreads in Playboy Magazine were enough to have men around the world drooling and objectifying her. She was trying to stray away from this single narrative and create a serious name for herself in Hollywood when the tape was released. Many believed that the leaking of the private video was intentional, assuming that Anderson had willingly posed naked for a photoshoot. If she willingly posed naked, then of course she was also okay with strangers selling her private sex tape without consent.
I am not writing this article with the intention of encouraging people to avoid the show, because trust me, I want to see a shirtless Sebastian Stan just as much as you do. I simply ask that when you open Hulu to stream the new series, understand that it is not 100% an accurate representation of the events and that the characters that you see in front of you are real people with real lives. This actually happened to Anderson and Lee. When the series ended, their lives didn’t.
Anderson must deal with the aftermath of it all for the rest of her life — not just those eight episodes.