Pam & Tommy at the Emmys: a scandalous story turned into acclaimed fiction

In the 1990s and early '00s, this wild couple caused raised eyebrows and open mouths all over the world. Their story of love and excess has since become a pop culture classic. A limited series on Disney Plus, 'Pam & Tommy,' captures their stormy romance.

'Pam & Tommy' was a hit in 2022 and got multiple Emmy Award nominations, including that of Lead Actress for Lily James and Lead Actor for Stan Sebastian.

(Image: Hulu / Disney+)

The series describes Pam and Tommy's instant wedding, the leaking of their intimate home video, and the passions between them - which often included a passionate hatred. Read further to learn more about the reality and the fiction of Pam and Tommy.

(Image: Hulu / Disney+)

Pamela Anderson was a television superstar and Tommy Lee a rocker with Mötley Crüe. They met on New Year's Eve 1994. Shortly after, in 1995, they met again, and they fell in love with such a hurry that only 96 hours later they got married in Cancún, Mexico.

With such a spectacular start and both in a thriving career, Pam and Tommy were the brightest couple of the late 90s and early 2000s.

There was punk, provocation, and the vindication of the vulgar in front of other, more sophisticated stars.

A leaked home video radically changed Pam and Tommy's lives. It contained an intimate recording made during the couple's honeymoon. The video circulated massively in 1998.

Suddenly, everyone could see Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee acting as a couple in an area that should have remained absolutely private.

(Image: Hulu / Disney+)

According to certain journalists, an employee who worked on the renovation of Pam and Tommy's mansion leaked the video. And they didn't even do it for money, Rolling Stone suggested.

Rolling Stone echoed reports that the couple had been somewhat authoritarian with the construction workers and that the builders may have leaked one of their sensitive tapes out of revenge.

The mid-90s were a time when the Internet was just beginning, and yet, the video of Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee spread like wildfire. The couple sued and managed to withdraw it from circulation. Still, millions of people had already seen it.

With Tommy Lee as her husband came the time of motherhood for Pamela Anderson. They had two children: Brandon was born in 1996 and Dylan in 1997.

Tommy Lee had several violent episodes that landed him in jail. Pamela Anderson even denounced him for assaulting her, causing Tommy to go behind bars for six months. And that wasn't even everything.

Tommy Lee has been accused of racism, for example by having a swastika tattoo and by encouraging the audience at one of his concerts to attack an African-American security agent.

In addition, he was expelled from the 2007 MTV Video Awards for fighting with Kid Rock. All these matters brought him to court on more than one occasion.

Unsurprisingly, Pamela Anderson broke up with Tommy Lee after accusing him of assault and seeing him sentenced to jail. They divorced in 1998. However, the passion was too strong for the couple, and they got back together in 2001.

Everything seems to indicate that the relationship between Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee was toxic. It was one of those romances that are bound to lead to disaster.

To the public, Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee's relationship seemed to be a permanent party. Their lives appeared to consist of going out every night, judging by the vast number of photos and videos on which we could see them partying.

In 2008, the couple reached their final separation. Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson took different paths.

Of course, they had two children together. And unfortunately, not a lot of good news came from that front. In 2018 TMZ reported that Pamela and Tommy's son Brandon had punched his father during an argument.

Pamela Anderson, here on a picture with Brandon, has mostly turned to activism. She fought for animals and for the freedom of Julian Assange. Some even suggested that she had an affair with the WikiLeaks boss while he was locked into the Ecuadorian embassy in London.

For Pamela Anderson, there have been plenty of men to choose from. Her most recent lover, bodyguard Dan Hayhurst, even married the star in December 2020. Unfortunately, the couple divorced shortly afterward.

Pamela Anderson is played by the British actress Lily James, known for quite distinct TV projects like 'Downton Abbey' and 'The Pursuit of Love.' She's also starred in the movies 'Mamma Mia!' and 'Yesterday.' Just imagine this posh period drama actress in the shoes of Pamela Anderson!

Well, there she is. Lily James plays Pamela Anderson and the resemblance is striking. She got a nomination for an Emmy Award for this role.

(Image: Hulu / Disney+)

As for the role of Tommy Lee, Sebastian Stan is playing it with much success: he too was nominated for an Emmy Award. Stan is a Marvel actor who's appeared in Captain America films and in the series 'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.'

Like Lily James, Sebastian Stan posted a photo of himself in Tommy Lee costume on his Instagram account, @imsebastianstan. And just like with Lily James's picture, fans went wild.

The series about Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee is directed by Craig Gillespie. He's a director of great acclaim, thanks to 'I, Tonya,' among others, in which he managed to turn a real story into excellent drama.

Tommy Lee, who is currently still making music with Mötley Crüe, has not made any remarks about the content of the series. However, in September 2021, at the MTV Video Music Awards, he told ET Online that he was "stoked" and that it was "cool" they were making the series.

Lee told ET Online that he had been in contact with Sebastian Stan, the actor playing him in 'Pam & Tommy.' "From what he's told me, it's a really beautiful story," he said. "He tells me it's pretty wild." Lee added that "it's a cool story and people need to know. It's cool, I'm stoked."

(Image: Sebastian Stan in 'Pam & Tommy', Hulu / Disney+)

The drummer also pointed out that "the story is cool, but what actually happened wasn't.... It's really about privacy and how things got crazy then. There's different laws now."

(Image: Lily James and Sebastian Stan, 'Pam & Tommy,' Hulu / Disney+)

While Pamela Anderson has remained silent about the series, her friend Courtney Love did write her opinion in a Facebook post. She called the series "outrageous" and "vile," as it was "further causing complex trauma" to "Pammy." To Lily James, who'd just posted her photo in Pam costume, Courtney Love said: "Shame on Lily James, whoever the [...] she is."

Although the personal trauma for Pamela Anderson may indeed be real and complex, as Courtney Love says, the story about Pam and Tommy's video is generally considered a pop culture classic. Theirs was one of the first viral videos on the (new) Internet and, because of that, it was an event with an immense impact.

Critics describe the series as "fun-filled" (Hollywood Reporter) and "screwball comedy" (New York Times). Some of them, however, including Digital Spy and Washington Post say it may have been wrong to make the series without Pamela Anderson's consent and cooperation. By doing so, they argue, the show repeats the exact violation of the couple's privacy that it is supposed to reflect upon.