Pamela Anderson’s privacy was invaded when a sex tape she made with then-husband Tommy Lee was stolen and distributed without her consent in the 1990s.
And now the 55-year-old actress and icon has repeated her claim that she and her ex never saw any money from the widely shared sextape.
Speaking with her and Tommy’s son Brandon Lee, 26, at a screening of new Netflix documentary Pamela, A Love Story in New York City, she said people refused to believe that despite his popularity, she never made it for the tape could have been compensated .
“I don’t think anyone wanted to believe it,” she said during a talkback, according to IndieWire. “Besides, we just let it go.”
According to the actress, she and Tommy decided it was best for their mental and physical health to forgo proper compensation.
Empty-handed: Pamela Anderson, 55, delved into her claims that she never made any money from her sex tape with ex Tommy Lee at a New York screening of Pamela, A Love Story with her son Brandon Lee on Wednesday (pictured). have earned.
“After the statements and all this craziness – and I was pregnant with Dylan – we didn’t want to put any more stress on the baby. Tommy and I just said, “f*** her, karma, whatever,” we just let it go. We were really just trying to keep it in the past.
“So we didn’t do a press tour and talk about what money we didn’t get. That was just dirty money. We didn’t want it. And we ended up fine,” she said.
Pam’s claim that she never received any payment is surprising considering she and Tommy were victorious in multiple lawsuits over the sex tape.
However, the trader may never have paid, although he was asked to pay the couple as he went out of business.
The tape was stolen in 1995 by Rand Gauthier, an electrician who had worked at the couple’s home. After refusing to pay him for the work done, Tommy stole a giant safe from their garage.
It was only after he had a chance to review the contents that he learned the sex tape footage was locked in the safe.
The tape was later sourced by Seth Warshavsky, who initially streamed the video online before attempting to secure a distribution deal with Pamela and Tommy.
The couple eventually signed the agreement to relieve their stress over lawsuits, but the agreement — which Pam reportedly thought would limit distribution to the internet — ended up being a lot broader than she thought.
Payback: In 1995, Pamela and Tommy’s sextape was stolen by a disgruntled electrician after Tommy allegedly refused to pay him for the work he was doing on their house; seen in 1996
Giving up: After being circulated online, the frustrated couple waived legal action and signed an agreement they thought would limit online-only distribution; seen in 1996
Boisterous: But the deal was so sweeping that the tape was licensed and sold to adult video stores, raking in hundreds of millions that Pamela or Tommy had never seen; nor from Pam & Tommy
After the agreement was signed, Warshavsky then licensed the video to a video company to print physical copies for sale in adult stores.
Sales of the tape reportedly raised hundreds of millions of dollars, but none of that money got back to Pam and Tommy.
According to Entertainment Weekly, the couple then filed a physical distribution copyright lawsuit. Since they made the tape together – and not just starred in it – they were considered the copyright holders.
The pair were eventually awarded $740,000 each in a judgment against Warshavsky, but he reportedly paid neither.
During the conversation, Pamela admitted she allowed the documentary – which was directed by Ryan White – to be made to help make sense of herself and her extraordinary life.
“I’m just thinking, why not? Everyone is different, let’s try to get into those feelings that nobody else has,” she said of the decision to proceed.
“We all have a goal, and if we can just find our unique, forward-thinking ideas, that’s where we’ll find all the interesting, good stuff. So I thought, “If someone else can do it, I can do it.” And I just don’t know what I’m capable of yet. I just want to push my limits. I don’t know what my goal is, I just have fun doing it and trying all the things. I think it’s a survival mechanism – trying to have a good time even when things are tough.
Stiffed: Pamela and Tommy eventually won lawsuits against the distributor, but they were reportedly never paid despite winning verdicts; seen wednesday
Public service: Brandon (R) said he wanted the film he was producing to help humanize his larger-than-life mother; seen with father Tommy (L) and brother Dylan (middle)
Brandon said he hopes the documentary would help humanize his larger-than-life mother for viewers.
“My whole goal was to give everyone a glimpse of what I got to see every day when I got home from school. At soccer practice every day, as a dedicated mom and just everywhere a supportive human trying to live this normal life in a world that just didn’t really understand her,” he said. ‘The way she was treated was unacceptable and we should all be ashamed to be a part of it.’
Pamela apparently stayed out of production on the film, but Brandon, who is producing the documentary, wasn’t sure how much control to give the director.
“There were definitely times when I was like, ‘As a producer, can I keep my head cool on this project and do I want to do what’s best for the film? I was constantly struggling with a lot of the stuff that was in the film about my family,” he said.
“You watch your life piece together in reverse order, and I don’t think many people can do that. I watch a lot of things that happened with my family in public that I remember specific instances from when I was a kid…but the rest of the world knew the whole story and I didn’t. A lot of it was kind of catching up for me, so it was very emotional.
Difficult to step down: Brandon admitted he struggled with giving the director creative control; seen with Pamela and Dylan on January 30th