Tommy Lee Says ‘People Need to Know’ Sex-Tape Story
Hulu's new limited series Pam & Tommy tells a "cool" version of the notorious sex-tape story, according to Tommy Lee.
Back in 1996, Lee wondered if he had gone crazy one day when he went to his garage at the Malibu mansion he shared with Pamela Anderson. He couldn't find the safe that contained the now-famous sex tape. At first, he thought someone might have moved the safe while the home was being renovated, but he checked with everyone he knew that may have had access and all denied moving the safe. He recalled in his 2004 memoir, Tommyland, “My heart stopped for a second when I realized that it had been stolen.”
The safe contained the private honeymoon sex tape that would find its way onto the internet within a matter of days, taken by a disgruntled electrician who wanted to get back at Lee following a dispute about a home-improvement bill.
Lee mentioned to Entertainment Tonight that he was looking forward to the miniseries that dives into the compelling, hidden and somewhat uncomfortable details. "The story's actually cool, what actually happened wasn't," he said, adding that "people need to know" what occurred.
The sex tape was made during the couple's honeymoon after a beach wedding in Cancun. The video was later watched by millions without their consent. In 2020, Andy Cohen asked Anderson about the eight-minute video that took a budding internet by storm. “That was not a sex tape,” Anderson said. “That was a compilation of vacations that we were naked on.”
Lee told ET's Rachel Smith at the MTV Video Music Awards last summer that he had no problem with Sebastian Stan playing him in the Hulu series. "From what he's told me, it's a really beautiful story," Lee said. "I think a lot of people would think it's one thing, but it's really about privacy and how things got crazy then. There's different laws now."
Stan spent two hours in the makeup chair every morning transforming himself into the Motley Crue drummer. When Hulu released the first photos from Pam & Tommy last year, fans were in awe over Stan's resemblance to Lee, right down to the rocker's full-sleeve tattoos, "Mayhem" stomach ink and nipple piercings.
English actress Lily James plays Baywatch star Anderson in the series. She's a brunette in real life and had to spend four hours each day prepping for her transformation into a blonde. As she was getting ready for the role, James said she reached out to Anderson but didn't receive a reply. "I was really hopeful that she would be involved. I wish it had been different,” James said. “My sole intention was to take care of the story and to play Pamela authentically.”
Us Weekly reported that Anderson "won't be watching" the Hulu series because she wasn't involved in the show's production. Lee wasn't involved either but seems more supportive of the "beautiful story."