10 Shocking Revelations from Pamela Anderson's New Tell-All Netflix Documentary
*Trigger warning: The documentary and the revelations discussed in this article deal with extremely distressing subject matter*
To many, Pamela Anderson is a '90s sex symbol with countless Playboy covers to her name. To others, she's C.J. Parker—the iconic, bubbly lifeguard that millions of fans grew to love on Baywatch. But according to Netflix's new documentary, Pamela, A Love Story, there's more to Anderson's story than meets the eye. And now, she's regaining control of the narrative by sharing the full truth, in her own words.
The tell-all doc comes just a year after Hulu dropped Pam & Tommy, a biographical drama that depicts Anderson's rocky marriage with Tommy Lee and the chaos that ensued after their sex tape got released. Not surprisingly, Anderson is quite vocal about her thoughts regarding the miniseries—and even details what really went down. But guys, this only scratches the surface when it comes to all the shocking revelations we learned. Keep reading for the most surprising reveals from Pamela, A Love Story.
Netflix
1. Anderson was dating Kelly Slater when she married Tommy Lee
Everyone knows about the whirlwind romance that led to Anderson and Lee's beach wedding—but very few know that the model was technically still in a relationship with Kelly Slater when it all went down.
"I was dating Kelly Slater at the time," she said. "And I was supposed to go see him in Florida and meet his family and my first phone call was him to tell him I was married. He's like, 'What?!' That was horrible." (We could imagine.)
Netflix
2. One of her ex-boyfriends tried to run her over
The mother of two recalled how one of her rebellious exes would, for some odd reason, try to chase her off the road and run her over.
She explained, "From the beginning, I've been drawn to different types of bad guys. One of my first boyfriends, he had a habit of trying to chase me and run me off the road. Like, run me over if he saw me. He kicked me out of a moving car, and I did a gymnastic dismount into a ditch."
Netflix
3. Pamela once tried to murder her babysitter
The 55-year-old actress revealed that, when she was little, she had a babysitter who molested her for years.
She said, "My parents thought she was a great babysitter because she brought presents all the time, but she was molesting me. It was like three or four years of abuse. She always told me not to tell my parents."
"I tried to protect my brother from her. I tried to kill her. I tried to stab her in the heart with a candy cane pen. And then I told her I wanted her to die, and then she died in a car accident the next day... So I thought I killed her with my mind and I couldn't tell anybody."
Getty Images
4. When she dated Scott Baio, his dad didn't like her
Anderson may have been one of the biggest names in Hollywood, but this didn't matter to Baio's father.
She recalled, "He was really mad because I would drive Scott's Mercedes and he said I wasn't worth a Mercedes yet. That I had to drive something like a Hyundai... He was not very nice to me."
The star also joked, "I might buy a Hyundai off Scott's dad for $5,000."
Getty Images
5. Anderson & Tommy Lee turned down $5 million for the rights to their sex tape
Soon after they realized that a giant safe was stolen from their home, the couple got a call from Bob Guccione, the founder of Penthouse. He offered to buy their sex tapes from them, but they refused to sell. To this day, they haven't earned any money from those released tapes.
Anderson recalled Guccione saying, "I'll give you $5 million in cash for the rights to this tape." But the couple said no and insisted that he return their property. She said, "This was not supposed to be for anybody else. We just really had no clue. We thought that if we got the tape back, it would stop. We had no way to navigate it because no one else was going through anything like this."
Netflix
6. Anderson was sexually assaulted at 12 years old
The Chicago star opened up about one of the most traumatic experiences she had as a child—something she chose to keep a secret for most of her life.
While hanging out with a friend, she was left alone with an older guy while her friend went off with an older guy that she liked. Anderson said, "We went to a friend's condo. She went upstairs with the guy she had a crush on. I started to play backgammon with her friend downstairs while I waited for her. We played for a while until he said I looked like I needed a massage. He was 25, I was 12. He raped me."
"I felt like it was my fault," she continued. "My mom was always crying about my dad, I couldn't bear to hurt her more. I didn't tell her or anyone."
Netflix
7. Her first Playboy shoot helped her break out of her shell
Because of her childhood trauma, Anderson was extremely shy and struggled with self-esteem when it came to her body.
Referring to the sexual assault, she said, "What it made me was very, very shy. It made me super self-conscious. When I got to that first Playboy photoshoot, I just said, 'Why am I so freaking paralyzed by this shyness? I'm so sick of all this past that's created this insecurity in me. It's like a prison. I have to break out of it.'"
She continued, "From the first snap of the picture, I felt like I was throwing myself off a bridge. That was the first time I felt like I'd broken free of something."
Getty Images
8. Anderson initially didn't want to join Baywatch
The documentary featured a clip of an interview with the show's casting directors, Susan Glicksman and Fern Orenstein, who told E! back in 2001 that Anderson canceled on them 11 times when they tried to cast her. As for why, the actress thought she'd be too far away from home.
She said, "They always tried to get me to come and audition in Marina Del Rey, which sounded very exotic and far away. I was like that sounds really far I can't go. I just ignored it."
Fortunately, the team continued to reach out until they won her over.
Ron Wolfson/Getty Images
9. Lee would constantly show up to the set of Baywatch to keep an eye on Anderson
As it turns out, Lee had access to Anderson's scripts, and he decided to visit during her romantic scenes. Thanks to his jealously and angry outbursts, the team had to adopt a new plan to keep him calm.
Anderson said, "The whole Baywatch crew, if they saw him coming they would change the dialogue, change the scene. He was always in my eyeline and he would always be behind the camera. Tommy was always there. It was too much."
Erin Simkin/Hulu
10. She definitely doesn't approve of Hulu's Pam & Tommy
The series may have garnered several positive reviews and 10 Emmy nominations. But Anderson wants nothing to do with it, since it brings back many painful memories like her devastating legal battle and facing blatant disrespect from the media.
In the documentary, she said, "It really gives me nightmares. I didn't sleep last night at all. I have no desire to watch it, not gonna watch it. Never watched the tape, I'm not gonna watch this."
She continued, "Who knows how they're going to portray it? Nobody really knows what we were going through at that time. They should have had to have my permission."
Fortunately, Anderson got to tell the real story on her own terms.
Pamela, A Love Story is now available to stream on Netflix.
