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Pamela Anderson has said that her new critically acclaimed film is the “best payback” after she claimed that the Hulu series Pam & Tommy was made without her permission or involvement.
The former Baywatch star, 57, is attracting critical acclaim and awards buzz for her role in Gia Coppola’s movie, The Last Showgirl, which tells the story of a veteran dancer in Las Vegas named Shelly (Anderson) on the verge of retirement.
Anderson has celebrated a career renaissance after the most challenging period of her life was dramatised in the series Pam & Tommy, which recounted her relationship with her ex-husband, the Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee, whom she divorced in 1998 when Lee was sentenced to six months in jail for assaulting her.
Speaking in a new interview on SiriusXM’s Andy Cohen Live, Anderson recalled finding out about the Hulu series – which she claims was made without permission – while she was working on her own Netflix documentary, Pamela, A Love Story, which was released around the time of her memoir Love Pamela: A Memoir of Prose, Poetry, and Truth.
“I didn’t know anything about it. I didn’t have any involvement,” she said of the Hulu series. “No one called me, which was so strange, and that was hurtful.”
Pam & Tommy starred Lily James as Anderson and Sebastian Stan as her then-husband Tommy Lee. It recounted how the pair’s home video was stolen from their safe by an electrician (played by Seth Rogen) and sold online as a sex tape.
Anderson revealed last year that James sent her a handwritten letter prior to playing her, which Anderson did not read.
James told Entertainment Weekly at the time: “I do wish things had been different and that [Anderson] wanted to be involved.” Meanwhile, the programme’s showrunners Robert Siegel and D.V. DeVincentis also told the publication that they had contacted Anderson but did not get a response.
Anderson told host Andy Cohen that she believes it was unethical for producers to make a scripted series about her personal life without her permission.
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“But I mean, you’re kind of fair game,” she said. “I remember people telling me that a long time ago, that you are basically public property and have no right to privacy.” The Independent has contacted Hulu for comment.
However, Anderson is choosing to see her new movie as the “best payback” as she celebrates getting recognition for her own work, and not for portrayals of her personal life.
“I mean, it’s just one of those things. It happened and now I’m here, and so this is the best payback… I’m being seen and recognized for my work and not these tawdry moments,” she said.
“I don’t dwell on it, but it was kind of a strange thing to pick a very terrible time in my life and make entertainment and people were nominated for Emmys and all sorts of stuff,” she added. “And that’s why I was laughing with someone the other day – Pete Hammond was telling me, ‘All these people have won awards basically playing you, but not you’… I guess they did it better than me.”
The Last Showgirl has received rave reviews since its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival last year, with some suggesting it could be a major awards contender.
This post was originally published on here
