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Pamela Anderson says she ‘blocked out’ sex-tape scandal ‘to survive’ in Netflix documentary trailer

‘I’m not the damsel in distress,’ actor and model says in trailer

Isobel Lewis
Wednesday 11 January 2023 10:33 GMT
Pamela, A Love Story trailer

Pamela Anderson has said that she “felt sick” when her stolen sex tape was brought back into pop culture.

The Baywatch star found herself at the centre of public scandal in the Nineties when her sex tape with husband, Mötley Crüe musician Tommy Lee, was stolen and leaked publicly.

The subject was scrutinised once again last year with the arrival of Disney Plus series Pam and Tommy, which starred Lily James and Sebastian Stan as the couple.

The show was made without collaboration from Anderson and while she never commented publicly on the series, it was criticised by her friend Courtney Love, who said that the “disgusting” show was causing Anderson “complex trauma”.

On Tuesday (10 January), the trailer was released forPamela, A Love Story, a one-off Netflix documentary made with the former Playboy cover star.

The trailer opens with Anderson seemingly referencing the release of Pam and Tommy, saying: “I didn’t sleep last night at all. I blocked that stolen tape out of my life in order to survive. And now that it’s all coming up again, I feel sick.”

A male voice describes how Anderson is considered “public property”, while the 55-year-old says that she wants to “take control of the narrative for the first time”.

Archival footage is shown of Anderson on-screen and off, including an interview where she insists that she is a “serious actress” to the amusement of her interviewer.

Documentary will feature archival footage of Anderson over the years (Netflix)

“I didn’t feel like I had a lot of respect,” Anderson says. “I had to make a career out of the pieces left. But I’m not the damsel in distress. I put myself in crazy situations and survived them.

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“I don’t care what people think ‘cause it’s the only choice I had. If I cared what people think, I wouldn’t be here.”

In the final moments of the trailer, she jokes: “Maybe I just do all the interviews naked. There’s no mystery here.”

Pamela, A Love Story was directed by Ryan White and lists Brandon Thomas Lee, Anderson and Lee’s 26-year-old son, among its producers.

Pamela, A Love Story arrives on Netflix on Tuesday 31 January.

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