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Pamela Anderson rebukes Donald Trump's sexual assault comments: 'It cannot be swept under the rug'

The model urges men to show respect to women outside of the public domain and in the company of both sexes

Maya Oppenheim
Sunday 16 October 2016 11:49 BST
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The unlikely pairing has teamed up to speak out against pornography and argue we should be consuming less of it
The unlikely pairing has teamed up to speak out against pornography and argue we should be consuming less of it (Getty)

Pamela Anderson has joined the steadily mounting list of prominent individuals rebuking Donald Trump for his lewd and sexually aggressive comments.

The model said the Republican’s remarks about women were “terrible” and insisted they could not be “swept under the rug”. Anderson urged men to show respect to women behind closed doors and in the company of both sexes.

To the great dismay and disdain of many of his fellow Republicans and the world at large, just over a week ago a leaked tape from 2005 surfaced in which Mr Trump could be heard boasting about groping and making unwanted advances on women. The property magnate boasted that he was such a “star” he can grab women “by the p***y”.

After the tapes were leaked, Mr Trump initially attempted to dismiss the obscene remarks as nothing more than “locker room” banter but later released a scripted 90-second long video apology for the comments.

In an event at Oxford Union, Anderson said she did not feel the comments were not reflective of "locker room" talk.

“It's terrible and I've heard other men speak that way, even about me, and it cannot be swept under the rug because how we deal with it - how he is ... it's not okay,” the 49-year-old former Playboy model and Baywatch star told Press Association.

“So I was completely offended, like everybody else, and I don't like the way he said it was just locker room behaviour because I don't believe that's true of the men who do speak that way.”

“It's got to stop, you've got to have respect for women, behind closed doors, around women and around men.”

Anderson was at the university for a joint event with American orthodox Rabbi and tv host Shmuley Boteach. The unlikely pairing has teamed up to speak out against pornography and argue the public should be consuming less of it. They are in the UK for a series of talks for an awareness campaign titled “Take The Pledge” which urges people to be aware of the consequences of what they are exposing themselves to.

In an essay written by the pair and published in the Wall Street Journal, Anderson and Boteach argued adult entertainment was a “public hazard” which had long-term, “corrosive” effects on a man’s soul and his ability to function as both a partner and a father.

Anderson has previously argued porn addiction is leading towards sexual violence against women and child abuse.

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