Pamela Anderson Gets Super Real About Her 'Ship With Tommy Lee In Her Doc
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You have not lived until you have seen Pamela Anderson running down the beach Baywatch style. The luscious platinum hair blowing in the breeze, sheer determination on her face...don’t even get me started on the red lifeguard swimsuit. I say this with all of the respect and admiration in my heart: the woman is an absolute icon.
So, it is no surprise she was the subject of relentless tabloid fodder in the 1990s. Her relationships, her looks, and eventually, her sex tape with Mötley Crüe’s Tommy Lee fueled national news for decades.
In 2022, Hulu released a film called Pam & Tommy, but since then, Pamela has been determined to set the record straight...on her own terms. And now, she has released her own documentary titled, Pamela, A Love Story, and a book, Love, Pamela. Both give fans a detailed look into her life over the years as she's navigated the narratives put on her by the press.
So, while you pop your popcorn and prepare to watch the film, I’ll ask the question on everyone’s minds: Where is Pamela Anderson now?
Pamela and Tommy had a whirlwind romance.
I would be remiss if I didn’t recap the romance at the center of this all. Pam, now 54, and Tommy met at a New Year’s Eve party in 1994. And just 96 hours later, married on a beach in Cancún in Mexico.
“There was Tommy and then there was nobody else. He was the love of my life. We had a wild and crazy beginning that was too much for both of us," Pamela told People in 2015. "It really was love at first sight. I only knew him four days before I married him.”
Pamela and Tommy were the couple. The OG Kravis if you will. They spent their days sipping martinis and passing joints in their Malibu home, which they turned into a “huge adult playground,” Tommy wrote in his 2004 memoir Tommyland. There were heart-shaped glass and iron doors, a pillow room, a koi pond, a 20-foot-mural of heaven and hell, and a 30-foot swing hanging above the white baby grand piano in their living room, according to Rolling Stone.
Like many relationships, it was great until it wasn’t. The pair had two children during their whirlwind romance, Brandon Thomas, 25, and Dylan Jagger, 24, and before separating in 1998. Pamela filed for a divorce months after Tommy was arrested for assaulting her and was sentenced to six months in jail, according to Marie Claire.
In 2008, 10 years after their divorce, Tommy told Rolling Stone things were back on. "Pamela and the kids have moved in with me," he told the magazine. "It’s awesome, man. It’s definitely working. You can tell on the kids’ faces—they’re happy when we’re together.” It was short-lived, though. The couple split again in 2010, seemingly for good.
Pamela remarried (and divorced) four times since Tommy.
Our girl Pam loves a wedding, according to a source who spoke to People. "Pam loves weddings. The divorces aren't that hard to her. She's very quick to pull the trigger. How quick is she to undo the trigger? She realizes things weren't meant to be.”
This is fortunate because the divorces have been plentiful. (No shade, just facts!)
After the first split from Tommy, she married Kid Rock in 2006 and divorced him the same year. She then married and left the poker player Rick Salomon two times—once in 2007, and once in 2014, per Us Weekly. Both marriages lasted less than a year.
In 2020, the actress ended her relationship with hairstylist-turned-producer Jon Peters, who she married in a ceremony but never legally. Her most recent husband, Dan Hayhurts, was her bodyguard who she married on Christmas Eve 2020. The pair filed for divorce in January 2022.
One of Pamela's husbands left her a lot of money.
Even though she never married Jon Peters legally, he still left her $10 million in his will. Side note: They were only married for 12 days.
"He's great and has been a huge influence on my life. I love him to death," Pamela recently told Variety. However, Pamela wasn't aware of the will money for a long time. According to Jon, their friendship played a big role in his decision to leave her the money.
"I will always love Pamela, always in my heart. As a matter of fact, I left her $10 million in my will. And she doesn’t even know that," Jon confessed to Variety. "Nobody knows that. I’m just saying it for the first time with you. I probably shouldn’t be saying it. So that’s for her, whether she needs it or not.”
Pamela now lives in Vancouver Island, Canada.
Though she once dominated magazine covers across the United States and beyond, Pamela is now living in Canada, where she and Dan Hayhurts lived pre-divorce.
ICYMI, Pamela is actually from Canada. And after years of spending time Stateside, she decided to return to her roots. She is previously renovated her estate on Vancouver Island for an HGTV show.
Pamela is a philanthropist with her own foundation.
If you have been a human being alive on Earth with eyes and a pulse for the last 20 or so years, you know Pamela is sort of PETA’s best-used weapon. The vegan star infamously posed in several sexy ads promoting a meat-free diet over the years. And on top of that, she started her own organization: the Pamela Anderson Foundation, which is dedicated to human, animal, and environmental rights.
“We do not have to be a part of the ‘bewildered herd’ philosophy—we must be Outspoken and Brave. Question everything. Challenging communities- and Politics worldwide—in a provocative way...,” Pam writes on her website. The foundation supports organizations like PETA, the National Domestic Violence Hotline, and IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare)—among many other groups.
Pamela never watched Pam & Tommy.
Pamela is not here for the Hulu show, which came out in 2022. In fact, when Lily James tried to reach out to the star, she was not successful.
“I was really hopeful that she would be involved. I wish it had been different,” Lily said, according to US Weekly. “My sole intention was to take care of the story and to play Pamela authentically.”
But Pamela, who never watched the sex tape that rocked the world, had no intention of tuning in to the series, according to a source.
Pamela went off the grid before her doc came out.
The star went quiet for about a year after an announcement on social media. At the time, it seemed like a permanent decision.
“This will be my last post on Instagram Twitter or Facebook. I’ve never been interested in social media," she wrote in a now-deleted IG post from January 2021. "Now that I'm settled into the life, I'm genuinely inspired by reading and being in nature. I am free.”
However, Pam made a big return in March 2022, when she announced that she'd be coming out with her own documentary on Netflix. The IG photo shows a handwritten note, seemingly from Pam, that reads: "My life/A thousand imperfections / A million misperceptions / Wicked, wild and lost / Nothing to live up to / I can only surprise you / Not a victim, but a survivor / And alive to tell the real story."
Pamela has been opening up about her personal life, too.
In October 2022, Pamela announced that her new book, Love, Pamela, would be available for preorder. The memoir provides an in-depth look into her life through poetry and prose while also trying to take back control of her image, which she feels has been controlled by the public for decades.
"Just one girl's messy life. A celebration of imperfections. The book is an unpolished attempt. I had no co-writer. My life as a mother, as an activist, and as an actress. I am so proud of this book," she wrote on Instagram.
Since its release, readers have fallen in love with Pam and her vision all over again. An early review from The New York Times points out her vivid descriptions of the 80s and 90s while opening up about the traumas she faced, and the coping mechanisms she developed.
As it turns out, Pamela was in several abusive relationships before a big break with Playboy provided a way out. She also wrote about Tommy and how her life has changed drastically since those days.
Pamela made her Broadway debut.
Yup, she hit the stage to play the lead role of Roxie Hart in Chicago. Understandably, Pamela's performance got stellar reviews and a standing ovation on opening night.
“I just feel like this is really a moment for me to shine for once. I’m doing this for myself, which is rare," she told GMA last March, per Today.
She reveals a lot in the doc and book.
*Trigger warning: Discussions of sexual assault, suicide*
Pamela covers a lot of tough topics and discusses some intense traumas in her doc and book. From being sexually abused as a child to a sexual assault at age 25 and a suicide attempt, the former Playboy model bares it all.
She called posing for the magazine “empowering,” though. Anderson writes that “it helped me in ways I could never articulate – I took my power back – I had to – It was a chance to realize a new life, a new adventure…”
Stay tuned for more Pamela updates now that her documentary and book are avaible online and in stores.
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