Pamela Anderson’s most controversial moments – from racy advert banned in UK to bizarre friendship with ‘sexy’ Assange

PAMELA Anderson won’t have anything to do with Disney’s controversial dramatisation of her sex tape – but her life has been even more outrageous.

The former Baywatch star, 54, is never far from the headlines due to her outspoken views, racy appearances and short-lived marriages.

Pamela Anderson with the first of her five husbands – Tommy Lee

Lily James and Sebastian Stan play Pam and Tommy in a Disney series

Pam has had adverts banned, supported fugitive from justice Julian Assange and been accused of cultural appropriation.

But she is not one for regrets.

The actress, whose marriage to Tommy Lee is examined in Pam & Tommy, says: “The best decisions you ever make are usually the ones you make even when everyone else says not to do it.” 

Here we look at her most contentious moments.

‘Sexist’ ad banned

In June 2013, the British advertising watchdog ruled that an advert in which the former Baywatch star leaned over revealing her ample cleavage in a boardroom full of men was “sexist”.

In the promotional clip for Crazydomains.co.uk, one bloke then began fantasising about Pamela and her sexy assistant Vanessa dancing around in bikinis while covered in cream. 

After just four complaints, the ad was deemed “likely to cause serious offence to some viewers” and banned from being broadcast before the 9pm watershed.

This advert was banned before the watershed in Britain for ‘causing offence’

That’s not the only ad that sparked controversy. In 2010, a Peta poster of a bikini-clad Pam with animal parts such as “rump” written on her body was banned from Montreal in Canada.

The City Commissioner Josee Rocheford thought it demeaned women, but Pam defended the animal rights campaign, which promoted vegetarianism.

Pals with ‘sexy’ Julian Assange

Pamela described Julian Assange as ‘sexy’ but said they were just friends

Even though Australian Wikileaks founder Julian Assange had been accused of sexual assault in Sweden, the actress decided to befriend him.

She said: “Mr Assange and I, have become very dear friends over time.”

The star even went on to write a poem about her new friend, which included the line: “Yes – I think he’s quite sexy,” and visited him in prison in the UK.

Pam even visited Assange in prison in the UK, where he is awaiting extradition to the United States on espionage charges, and has campaigned for him to be set free.

The Swedish authorities dropped the sexual assault case in 2019.

Cultural appropriation

Pam fell foul of the woke brigade in 2019 when she shared an image of herself wearing a Native American headdress (and little else).

In one image the animal activist held up what appeared to be a feathered item while her breasts were covered in white paint.

It was supposed to be a Halloween outfit, but Twitter got into a fury about the headwear, claiming it was racist and cultural appropriation.

While Pam didn’t respond to the controversy directly, she did share a link to an article titled “The Illogic of Cultural Appropriation”.

Anti-porn

Pam’s final Playboy cover in 2016

Pamela has graced more covers of Playboy magazine than any other woman, appearing on 13 since 1989, where she posed with a straw hat covering her intimate areas.

But in 2016 she spoke out against pornography.

The actress claimed porn affects men’s “ability to function as a husband, and, by extension, as a father”. 

Having experienced first-hand the pain of a personal sex tape being watched across the globe, Pam is now against the online sex industry.

She commented: “The march of technology is irreversible and we aren’t so naive as to believe that any kind of imposed regulation could ever reseal the Pandora’s box of pornography.”

Not #metoo

Pam suggested that some of Harvey Weinstein’s victims should have been more careful

Five years ago Pam was accused of “victim blaming” when she insisted that actresses should never have gone into a hotel room alone with sleazy mogul Harvey Weinstein.

In November 2017 she said: “It’s just common sense. Don’t go into a hotel room alone. If someone answers the door in a bathrobe, leave. 

“It was common knowledge that certain producers or certain people in Hollywood are people to avoid privately.”

Pam stood by her comments when they were criticised.

Taxing times

She’s built a reputation as one of the most glamorous women in the world, but in 2009 Pamela earned a slightly less coveted title.

The star landed herself a place on California’s Top 500 Delinquent Tax Payers list, according to TMZ, when the IRS filed a filed a $1.7million lien against her.

Two years later, the publication reported that Anderson owed the IRS $259,395.75 in unpaid taxes, while a second claim from the state of California hit her with a $112,118.90 bill.

Pamela later insisted the outstanding debts were a “temporary but embarrassing situation”.

She told the Mirror: “I’m not trying to avoid any tax ­obligation. Certain events occurred, outside of my control, which caused this temporary but embarrassing situation. All of my tax obligations will be resolved in the very near future.”

Wed 96 hours after first date

Pam and Tommy married four days after their first date

When Pammy met Tommy at a New Year’s Eve party in 1994 his opening gambit was to grab her face and lick the side of it (he was allegedly high on ecstasy at the time).

Friends warned her off the Motley Crue drummer, so after agreeing to a date she casually cancelled on him.

Not one to take rejection lying down, Tommy, now 59, then tracked her down at a photoshoot in Mexico in 1995. It must have impressed her, as 96 hours later the couple got hitched.

Her mum – who only learned about the wedding when she read about it in People magazine – described it as “heartbreaking and shocking”.

The couple divorced after three years and two children, and Pammy went on to have four more husbands.

At the end of last year Pam split from her fifth – Dan Hayhurst – after just one year of marriage.

Hired ‘ambulances’ for wild parties

Tommy and Pam loved an extravagant party

Pam and Tommy had so much money they had to find more and more outlandish ways to spend it.

When she threw a party for him there was a ferris wheel and fake ambulances to take all the wrecked guests home at the end of the night.

They also paid one of their pals to make them a huge sex swing to place in their Los Angeles home, and installed solid gold tiles around the swimming pool.

She loved to drink the priciest Champagne and has admitted “dabbling” with banned substances.

Sex tape saga

Pam has always denied profiting from the sex tape that was leaked onto the internet

Shortly after their whirlwind wedding, Pam and Tommy’s sex tape sensationally leaked online.

It’s clear the couple had no idea it was stolen from their safe, but there are questions about whether they opted to make some money off the back of it once it started to circulate.

In November 1997, they signed over ownership of the X-rated material to internet entrepreneur Seth Warshavsky.

They claimed the agreement was for a one-time webcast and had to take legal action when Warshavsky kept profiting from access.

Pam (right) in Baywatch which made her a star in the 1990s