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Pamela Anderson’s Two-Word Description of Her Sex Tape Leak Should Put Speculation To Rest

Alice Kelly
3 min read
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Pamela Anderson is making one thing clear — her leaked sex tape was a “complete crime” and she’s still dealing with the fall out.

The 1995 tape, made with then-husband Tommy Lee on their honeymoon became a defining moment in celebrity culture, it shaped her career and marriage, it has been talked about around the world and was even the subject of 2022 Hulu miniseries. But for Anderson, it is a source of trauma, a sign of the abuse she endured at the hands of the media and those who stole and distributed the tape.

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“The tape that was stolen property and exploited—it was a complete crime,” Anderson told Glamour in a September 30 interview, adding that Hulu’s Pam & Tommy only added to the trauma of the leak.

“[Hulu] never called me. I’ve never had any input. I didn’t know anything about it,” Anderson added. The show’s creator, Robert Siegel, and actress Lily James (who played Anderson) claim they did reach out to the Baywatch actress and got no response. However, perhaps no response should have been enough of a reason not to proceed.

Lily James in 'Pam & Tommy'
Lily James in ‘Pam & Tommy’

“It hit me a lot harder than I even imagined,” Anderson added of the tape. “Because it made me so nauseous to even think about it again when it came out, this Hulu thing. It really felt like another kick in the stomach that people might find that entertaining. And that was…I think I lost my husband, my sanity, my career.”

When the tape was released, after being stolen from the couple’s home, Anderson and Lee filed, lost and settled several lawsuits to attempt to halt its distribution. Anderson says the fallout made her believe her reputation was destroyed, pushing her to accept reality TV roles and other non-acting gigs to support her young sons.

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In recent years, Anderson has turned her career around with an eye-opening memoir, Love, Pamela, and an accompanying Netflix documentary that made her the author of her own story. Yet, even amid the release of her movie The Last Showgirl and Oscar-buzz around her performance, Anderson is still working her way through the aftermath of the exploitation she endured.

“In the moment I didn’t realise it,” she told Glamour. “It’s like post-traumatic, and so then you just start acting out. And I knew that I had lots of things that happened [to me] that I could have handled differently…. In this world, it’s really important how you manage your career. And I was just Wild West-ing it.”

“Even when I hear my name, I don’t like it. I have a negative connotation with it,” she added. “I still have a stereotype of myself almost. And so it’s been hard work to try and get rid of that because I’m a woman.”

Before you go, click here to see all of Pamela Anderson’s confirmed relationships below:

Pamela Anderson
Pamela Anderson

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