WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.140 Okay, let's unpack this. I want you to take a 00:00:02.140 --> 00:00:06.339 second and mentally transport yourself back to 00:00:06.339 --> 00:00:08.800 the mid -1990s. Right. If you were to close your 00:00:08.800 --> 00:00:11.500 eyes and just try to conjure up a single image, 00:00:11.660 --> 00:00:16.019 just one visual, that defined pop culture, celebrity 00:00:16.019 --> 00:00:19.480 obsession, the sheer visual noise of that entire 00:00:19.480 --> 00:00:22.899 decade, who do you see? It's almost inevitable, 00:00:23.160 --> 00:00:25.480 isn't it? You don't see a politician. You don't 00:00:25.480 --> 00:00:27.359 really see a musician, not in the same way. Right. 00:00:27.460 --> 00:00:29.530 You see the red swimsuit. You see the peroxide 00:00:29.530 --> 00:00:31.850 blonde hair. You see that smile that seemed to, 00:00:31.850 --> 00:00:34.009 I don't know, take up the entire screen. You 00:00:34.009 --> 00:00:35.950 see Pamela Anderson. You see Pamela Anderson, 00:00:36.070 --> 00:00:38.890 exactly. For a solid 10 years, she was arguably 00:00:38.890 --> 00:00:41.250 the most famous woman on the planet. I mean, 00:00:41.250 --> 00:00:43.390 she was everywhere. Bedroom walls, locker rooms, 00:00:43.530 --> 00:00:46.689 talk shows, tabloids. She was the definition 00:00:46.689 --> 00:00:50.009 of the babe. The absolute icon of that specific 00:00:50.009 --> 00:00:52.009 moment. But here's the thing, and this is why 00:00:52.009 --> 00:00:54.130 we're doing this deep dive today. If you had 00:00:54.130 --> 00:00:57.829 told anyone in 1995 or even 2005 or honestly 00:00:57.829 --> 00:01:00.200 even... as recently as 2020 where Pamela Anderson 00:01:00.200 --> 00:01:03.740 would be in February 2026, they would have laughed 00:01:03.740 --> 00:01:05.439 you out of the room. Oh, absolutely. They would 00:01:05.439 --> 00:01:07.519 have thought you were, I don't know, hallucinating. 00:01:07.540 --> 00:01:12.260 It really is one of the most remarkable, improbable 00:01:12.260 --> 00:01:14.280 cultural shifts we've seen in Hollywood history. 00:01:14.980 --> 00:01:17.599 Maybe ever. It's a total reinvention. A complete 00:01:17.599 --> 00:01:19.950 one. We're looking at the headlines right now, 00:01:19.989 --> 00:01:23.349 this week in February 2026. And Pamela Anderson, 00:01:23.670 --> 00:01:27.189 the icon of 90s pinups, the woman dismissed for 00:01:27.189 --> 00:01:30.530 decades as just a sex symbol or a punchline, 00:01:30.609 --> 00:01:34.730 is currently sweeping the 2024 and 2025 awards 00:01:34.730 --> 00:01:37.310 season. It is absolutely wild. And we're not 00:01:37.310 --> 00:01:39.620 talking about like a... People's Choice Award 00:01:39.620 --> 00:01:42.719 or a Best Reality Star nod? No, not at all. We're 00:01:42.719 --> 00:01:45.060 talking about the heavy hitters. A Golden Globe 00:01:45.060 --> 00:01:47.599 nomination. A Screen Actors Guild Award nomination. 00:01:47.659 --> 00:01:50.219 And this isn't for a cameo where she plays herself, 00:01:50.340 --> 00:01:52.000 you know, winking at the camera. No, this is 00:01:52.000 --> 00:01:54.280 for a lead role. For her performance in The Last 00:01:54.280 --> 00:01:56.540 Showgirl. A lead role that critics are calling 00:01:56.540 --> 00:01:59.620 a revelation. The BBC, The Hollywood Reporter, 00:01:59.959 --> 00:02:03.430 Vulture. They aren't grading on a curve here. 00:02:03.510 --> 00:02:06.010 They're not saying she's good for Pamela Anderson. 00:02:06.129 --> 00:02:08.689 They're saying she is giving a transformative, 00:02:08.930 --> 00:02:13.150 heartbreaking, nuanced performance. At 58 years 00:02:13.150 --> 00:02:15.990 old, she has completely rewritten her own ending. 00:02:16.169 --> 00:02:18.770 So that is our mission today. We're going to 00:02:18.770 --> 00:02:21.969 trace this entire arc. And we have to go deep 00:02:21.969 --> 00:02:25.270 because the surface level story, you know. blonde 00:02:25.270 --> 00:02:27.909 bombshell gets taken seriously that doesn't actually 00:02:27.909 --> 00:02:30.870 cover how crazy this journey is so much more 00:02:30.870 --> 00:02:33.430 complex how do you go from being the centennial 00:02:33.430 --> 00:02:36.770 baby of british columbia to the playboy mansion 00:02:36.770 --> 00:02:39.830 survive the massive trauma of the stolen tapes 00:02:39.830 --> 00:02:42.750 and the public mockery pivot to radical activism 00:02:42.750 --> 00:02:45.490 and then emerge on the other side as a respected 00:02:45.490 --> 00:02:47.930 actress a best -selling author and honestly kind 00:02:47.930 --> 00:02:50.620 of a philosopher it's a massive story And we 00:02:50.620 --> 00:02:52.960 have a huge stack of sources to get through to 00:02:52.960 --> 00:02:54.560 really understand it. What are we looking at? 00:02:54.639 --> 00:02:56.680 We're looking at her biography, the detailed 00:02:56.680 --> 00:02:58.740 critical reception of a recent memoir, Love, 00:02:58.819 --> 00:03:02.599 Pamela, which is like a key text here. Absolutely 00:03:02.599 --> 00:03:04.500 central. Then the production notes and reviews 00:03:04.500 --> 00:03:07.539 for new films and her extensive and frankly surprising 00:03:07.539 --> 00:03:10.460 history of activism. So buckle up. We are diving 00:03:10.460 --> 00:03:12.919 deep into the Pamela Sons. I love that term. 00:03:12.979 --> 00:03:16.099 The Pamely Sons. It's catchy. But to understand 00:03:16.099 --> 00:03:17.599 the Renaissance, we have to go back to the very 00:03:17.599 --> 00:03:19.800 beginning. All the way back. I mean, the very 00:03:19.800 --> 00:03:22.139 beginning, because her fame actually started 00:03:22.139 --> 00:03:24.620 the minute she was born. This is one of those 00:03:24.620 --> 00:03:27.000 facts that sounds like a PR agent made it up, 00:03:27.020 --> 00:03:31.139 but it is actually true. It is. July 1st, 1967. 00:03:31.520 --> 00:03:34.340 And that date is so significant. That is the 00:03:34.340 --> 00:03:38.000 100th anniversary of Canada's founding, the centennial. 00:03:38.479 --> 00:03:40.939 A huge national holiday. And Pamela Anderson 00:03:40.939 --> 00:03:44.020 was the first baby born on that day in her region. 00:03:44.259 --> 00:03:46.439 So she was named the centennial baby. She was 00:03:46.439 --> 00:03:48.240 in the newspapers before she could even open 00:03:48.240 --> 00:03:50.819 her eyes. It's almost prophetic, isn't it? Like 00:03:50.819 --> 00:03:54.300 marked for visibility from day one. She didn't 00:03:54.300 --> 00:03:56.060 seek it out initially. It was just thrust upon 00:03:56.060 --> 00:03:58.680 her by the calendar. It literally was. But what's 00:03:58.680 --> 00:04:00.699 interesting about her origins in Ladysmith, British 00:04:00.699 --> 00:04:03.800 Columbia, isn't just that accidental fame. It's 00:04:03.800 --> 00:04:06.430 the background. It's the texture of her childhood. 00:04:06.550 --> 00:04:09.289 She has these deep Finnish roots. Right. Her 00:04:09.289 --> 00:04:12.150 great -grandfather, Juho Haitianen. Exactly. 00:04:12.330 --> 00:04:16.329 He came over from Finland in 1908. And her grandfather, 00:04:16.629 --> 00:04:19.209 Herman, was this fascinating character. He was 00:04:19.209 --> 00:04:21.829 a logger and a poet. A logger and a poet. You 00:04:21.829 --> 00:04:24.029 don't hear that combination very often. You don't. 00:04:24.389 --> 00:04:26.629 And looking at the sources, particularly her 00:04:26.629 --> 00:04:29.430 memoir, this seems to be where Pamela gets her, 00:04:29.470 --> 00:04:32.399 I don't know, her whimsical side. her romanticism 00:04:32.399 --> 00:04:35.259 totally herman didn't just babysit her he built 00:04:35.259 --> 00:04:38.459 a world for her he used to tell her stories about 00:04:38.459 --> 00:04:40.779 fairies living in the forest about the trees 00:04:40.779 --> 00:04:43.439 whispering to each other It sounds like a storybook. 00:04:43.459 --> 00:04:46.379 It sounds very Grimm's fairy tales, but maybe 00:04:46.379 --> 00:04:48.759 a bit lighter, a bit more magical. It does. And 00:04:48.759 --> 00:04:50.680 she really internalized that. She has this worldview 00:04:50.680 --> 00:04:53.680 that is very romantic, very connected to nature, 00:04:53.759 --> 00:04:56.439 almost animistic. She believes things have spirits. 00:04:56.720 --> 00:04:59.019 Which, when you fast forward to her life in the 00:04:59.019 --> 00:05:02.420 Playboy Mansion or on the set of Baywatch, seems 00:05:02.420 --> 00:05:04.399 like such a clash. It's a total contradiction. 00:05:04.779 --> 00:05:07.680 It's a huge contradiction. But that fairy child 00:05:07.680 --> 00:05:10.339 identity, I think it's the core of who she is. 00:05:10.720 --> 00:05:13.360 It's maybe how she survived the cynicism of Hollywood. 00:05:13.740 --> 00:05:16.160 She never really let go of that magic. There 00:05:16.160 --> 00:05:18.819 is also this detail in her childhood that I totally 00:05:18.819 --> 00:05:21.040 missed, and I honestly had to reread the notes 00:05:21.040 --> 00:05:23.540 to make sure it was real. We always think of 00:05:23.540 --> 00:05:26.300 her as this visual icon, right? The face, the 00:05:26.300 --> 00:05:30.220 body. But she was musical. Yes. This is my favorite 00:05:30.220 --> 00:05:34.120 fact. In the eighth grade, she wasn't just in 00:05:34.120 --> 00:05:38.259 the band. She was a scat soloist on the saxophone. 00:05:38.279 --> 00:05:41.779 Hold on. A scat soloist liked improvisational 00:05:41.779 --> 00:05:44.759 jazz vocals while playing the sax. A scat soloist. 00:05:44.800 --> 00:05:47.060 She would play, and then she would sing these 00:05:47.060 --> 00:05:49.899 jazz rhythms. It implies a level of confidence 00:05:49.899 --> 00:05:52.459 and creativity that goes way beyond just show 00:05:52.459 --> 00:05:54.899 up and look pretty. Oh, way beyond. Jazz requires 00:05:54.899 --> 00:05:57.839 listening. It requires timing. It's improvisational. 00:05:57.939 --> 00:06:00.360 And here's where it gets really fun. She actually 00:06:00.360 --> 00:06:03.420 used that skill decades later. Saw that. In 2025, 00:06:03.720 --> 00:06:06.339 in the Naked Gun movie she starred in, she apparently 00:06:06.339 --> 00:06:09.079 drew on that eighth grade talent for a solo scene. 00:06:09.439 --> 00:06:11.259 I love that. It just shows that nothing is ever 00:06:11.259 --> 00:06:12.959 wasted. You know, every little piece of your 00:06:12.959 --> 00:06:15.000 life can come back. It all comes back. But let's 00:06:15.000 --> 00:06:16.819 fast forward to the moment that changed everything. 00:06:17.079 --> 00:06:19.800 The discovery. Right. Because usually these celebrity 00:06:19.800 --> 00:06:22.240 discovery stories are exaggerated. You know, 00:06:22.279 --> 00:06:24.439 I was drinking a soda at a counter and a scout 00:06:24.439 --> 00:06:26.819 found me. They're always mythologized. But in 00:06:26.819 --> 00:06:28.740 her case, it really was like a movie scene. It 00:06:28.740 --> 00:06:31.319 happened in an instant. It really was. 1989. 00:06:31.980 --> 00:06:34.120 She's living in Vancouver, working as a fitness 00:06:34.120 --> 00:06:37.360 instructor. And she goes to a BC Lions football 00:06:37.360 --> 00:06:39.720 game. Just a normal Saturday. She's wearing a 00:06:39.720 --> 00:06:42.540 Labatt's beer t -shirt. And the cameraman, just 00:06:42.540 --> 00:06:45.899 panning the crowd, spots her. Puts her face on 00:06:45.899 --> 00:06:48.639 the jumbotron. And the crowd just loses its mind. 00:06:48.860 --> 00:06:51.220 Not just a polite applause. No, it was a roar. 00:06:52.120 --> 00:06:54.819 She had this magnetism that translated instantly 00:06:54.819 --> 00:06:58.500 to a giant pixelated screen. People responded 00:06:58.500 --> 00:07:01.079 to her on a gut level. It's wild to think about 00:07:01.079 --> 00:07:03.920 that pre -internet virality. Today, that would 00:07:03.920 --> 00:07:06.079 be a TikTok moment that goes global in an hour. 00:07:06.259 --> 00:07:08.620 Right. Back then, it was just 50 ,000 people 00:07:08.620 --> 00:07:10.800 in a stadium screaming for the camera to go back 00:07:10.800 --> 00:07:13.339 to her. Exactly. And the reaction was so intense 00:07:13.339 --> 00:07:15.899 that the brewery, Labatt's, they tracked her 00:07:15.899 --> 00:07:18.000 down. Of course they did. They hired her as a 00:07:18.000 --> 00:07:21.120 spokesmodel on the spot. Her boyfriend at the 00:07:21.120 --> 00:07:23.720 time, a guy named Dan Nalichich, he produced 00:07:23.720 --> 00:07:25.839 this poster of her called The Blue Zone Girl. 00:07:26.519 --> 00:07:29.720 And that poster somehow makes its way to Playboy. 00:07:29.839 --> 00:07:32.579 And once Playboy calls in 1989, that's it. That 00:07:32.579 --> 00:07:34.720 is the rocket ship. She's on a plane to Los Angeles. 00:07:34.899 --> 00:07:38.079 The whole trajectory changes. October 1989, she's 00:07:38.079 --> 00:07:40.740 the cover girl. February 1990, she's Playmate 00:07:40.740 --> 00:07:43.500 of the Month. And we need to pause on the Playboy 00:07:43.500 --> 00:07:45.519 connection because it's not just a one -off gig 00:07:45.519 --> 00:07:48.129 for her. It's fundamental to her story. She holds 00:07:48.129 --> 00:07:50.370 the record. She holds the record. The record 00:07:50.370 --> 00:07:52.870 for the most Playboy covers by any individual. 00:07:53.470 --> 00:07:56.370 Her career with that magazine spanned 22 years. 00:07:56.470 --> 00:07:59.089 22 years. She was the absolute face of that brand. 00:07:59.509 --> 00:08:02.050 And for a deeper context, you have to remember 00:08:02.050 --> 00:08:04.709 what Playboy was in 1990. It wasn't just a dirty 00:08:04.709 --> 00:08:06.509 magazine. No, it was a cultural institution. 00:08:07.050 --> 00:08:09.490 It was. Being a Playmate was like being anointed 00:08:09.490 --> 00:08:11.529 as American royalty, even though she was Canadian. 00:08:11.529 --> 00:08:14.399 It was this aspirational, glamorous thing. It 00:08:14.399 --> 00:08:16.600 was the peak of that aesthetic. The big hair, 00:08:16.779 --> 00:08:19.480 the curves, the airbrushing. And that visibility 00:08:19.480 --> 00:08:23.040 launched her directly into television. She starts 00:08:23.040 --> 00:08:25.360 with a small role on Home Improvement. Right. 00:08:25.459 --> 00:08:28.000 Lisa the Tool Time Girl. Which was a huge show. 00:08:28.120 --> 00:08:31.079 A massive sitcom. It was a minor role, basically 00:08:31.079 --> 00:08:33.600 eye candy, but it got her foot in the door. Yeah. 00:08:33.700 --> 00:08:37.730 But then came 1992. Baywatch. The show that defined 00:08:37.730 --> 00:08:40.250 a decade. And I think we need to explain this 00:08:40.250 --> 00:08:43.029 to our younger listeners because the media landscape 00:08:43.029 --> 00:08:45.929 is so fragmented now. Baywatch wasn't just a 00:08:45.929 --> 00:08:48.769 hit show. It was a monoculture event. It was. 00:08:48.830 --> 00:08:51.149 At its peak, it was the most watched television 00:08:51.149 --> 00:08:54.049 show in the world. In the world. Billions of 00:08:54.049 --> 00:08:57.350 viewers. Pamela Anderson playing C .J. Parker 00:08:57.350 --> 00:09:00.269 became the centerpiece of that entire phenomenon. 00:09:00.509 --> 00:09:02.830 The slow motion running, the red swimsuit. It 00:09:02.830 --> 00:09:05.669 was broadcast into living rooms from Berlin to 00:09:05.669 --> 00:09:09.629 Tokyo to Rio. She was inescapable. But here is 00:09:09.629 --> 00:09:11.509 a detail from the sources that just highlights 00:09:11.509 --> 00:09:13.870 the disparity in Hollywood. We assume she was 00:09:13.870 --> 00:09:15.470 making bank, right? She's the face of the biggest 00:09:15.470 --> 00:09:17.230 show on earth. Do you know how much she was paid 00:09:17.230 --> 00:09:19.470 for that first season? I looked this up and it 00:09:19.470 --> 00:09:23.419 is shocking. Tell me. $1 ,500 per episode. You 00:09:23.419 --> 00:09:28.659 are kidding. $1 ,500. $1 ,500. Meanwhile, the 00:09:28.659 --> 00:09:31.419 show was sold into syndication globally, making 00:09:31.419 --> 00:09:33.419 millions and millions and millions of dollars. 00:09:33.960 --> 00:09:36.860 David Hasselhoff became incredibly wealthy from 00:09:36.860 --> 00:09:40.419 it because he had producer points. Pamela. She 00:09:40.419 --> 00:09:42.019 was one of the longest -serving cast members 00:09:42.019 --> 00:09:45.779 from 1992 to 1997, and she became the absolute 00:09:45.779 --> 00:09:49.399 breakout star. But financially, at the beginning... 00:09:49.580 --> 00:09:52.279 She was barely making rent in Los Angeles terms. 00:09:52.460 --> 00:09:55.840 That is just wild context. It really frames her 00:09:55.840 --> 00:09:58.419 as someone who is generating massive value for 00:09:58.419 --> 00:10:01.200 other people, studios, networks, producers. Everyone 00:10:01.200 --> 00:10:03.370 but her. But she wasn't capturing that value 00:10:03.370 --> 00:10:05.470 herself. She was the product, not the owner. 00:10:05.649 --> 00:10:07.610 And she was hustling to make up for it. She did 00:10:07.610 --> 00:10:11.389 barbed wire in 1996. Oh, barbed wire. The futuristic 00:10:11.389 --> 00:10:13.990 Casablanca remake? That's the one. Which was 00:10:13.990 --> 00:10:16.269 a critical flop at the time, though it has a 00:10:16.269 --> 00:10:18.370 real cult following now. But talk about commitment. 00:10:18.509 --> 00:10:21.090 She actually tattooed barbed wire on her arm 00:10:21.090 --> 00:10:23.350 for the role. Why? So the makeup artist wouldn't 00:10:23.350 --> 00:10:25.809 have to paint it on every day. That is insane 00:10:25.809 --> 00:10:28.870 commitment. I'll just permanently mark my body 00:10:28.870 --> 00:10:31.600 to save 20 minutes in the makeup chair. It speaks 00:10:31.600 --> 00:10:33.879 to her impulsiveness, but also her dedication. 00:10:34.279 --> 00:10:36.860 She was all in. Though I did read she finally 00:10:36.860 --> 00:10:40.039 got it removed in 2016. Good for her. But that 00:10:40.039 --> 00:10:42.639 tattoo became iconic in itself. It's interesting, 00:10:42.700 --> 00:10:45.500 though. While she was ascending to this global 00:10:45.500 --> 00:10:48.360 level of fame, there was this undercurrent of, 00:10:48.460 --> 00:10:50.820 let's call it usage. That's a good word for it. 00:10:50.879 --> 00:10:53.720 She was being used as an image, as a symbol. 00:10:54.759 --> 00:10:56.919 And that brings us to the darker side of the 00:10:56.919 --> 00:10:59.590 90s. Yeah. We have to talk about the tape. And 00:10:59.590 --> 00:11:02.330 I think for a long, long time, the cultural narrative 00:11:02.330 --> 00:11:05.409 around this was just so wrong. So wrong. It was 00:11:05.409 --> 00:11:07.629 treated as a joke or as a savvy career move. 00:11:07.789 --> 00:11:10.029 It was completely wrong. And recent sources, 00:11:10.210 --> 00:11:12.350 especially the documentary Pamela, a love story, 00:11:12.470 --> 00:11:14.950 have really corrected the record here. For years, 00:11:15.110 --> 00:11:17.509 people treated it like a leaked sex tape, implying 00:11:17.509 --> 00:11:19.230 she released it for fame. Right. Like it was 00:11:19.230 --> 00:11:21.629 a PR stunt. Oh, oops. This got out at the beginning 00:11:21.629 --> 00:11:24.179 of the Kardashian model. But the facts are clear 00:11:24.179 --> 00:11:26.740 and legally documented. It was stolen. It wasn't 00:11:26.740 --> 00:11:28.820 a leak. It was a theft. The tapes were in a safe 00:11:28.820 --> 00:11:31.879 in her home. The safe was literally stolen from 00:11:31.879 --> 00:11:34.860 her garage by a contractor who was angry about 00:11:34.860 --> 00:11:37.580 a payment dispute. This was stolen property. 00:11:37.899 --> 00:11:40.299 This was a burglary. And she tried to fight it. 00:11:40.320 --> 00:11:42.259 She didn't just let it happen. She fought it 00:11:42.259 --> 00:11:45.000 hard. She sued the distribution company, Internet 00:11:45.000 --> 00:11:48.340 Entertainment Group. But... And this is the heartbreaking 00:11:48.340 --> 00:11:50.779 part. She was pregnant with her son Dylan at 00:11:50.779 --> 00:11:53.700 the time. Oh, man. The legal battle was incredibly 00:11:53.700 --> 00:11:57.100 stressful. She was being deposed by lawyers who 00:11:57.100 --> 00:12:00.080 were asking her horrific invasive questions about 00:12:00.080 --> 00:12:02.620 her sex life, treating her like she was on trial. 00:12:02.779 --> 00:12:05.220 And she was fearful for the pregnancy. Exactly. 00:12:05.379 --> 00:12:07.440 Her doctor told her the stress was dangerous 00:12:07.440 --> 00:12:10.649 for the baby. So she had to make a choice. Fight 00:12:10.649 --> 00:12:13.149 for her copyright and her dignity or protect 00:12:13.149 --> 00:12:15.490 her unborn child. What a horrible choice. And 00:12:15.490 --> 00:12:17.610 she dismissed the case. She signed it away to 00:12:17.610 --> 00:12:19.789 save her pregnancy. And the result of that was? 00:12:19.990 --> 00:12:22.529 The company took that dismissal as a green light. 00:12:22.929 --> 00:12:25.129 They started making the tape available everywhere 00:12:25.129 --> 00:12:28.809 and their traffic tripled. She states clearly 00:12:28.809 --> 00:12:31.929 in her recent interviews that she never monetized 00:12:31.929 --> 00:12:34.480 that tape. She didn't make a dime off of it. 00:12:34.539 --> 00:12:37.679 It made millions for other men and it humiliated 00:12:37.679 --> 00:12:40.360 her. It's just infuriating. And even recently 00:12:40.360 --> 00:12:43.419 with that Hulu series, Pam and Tommy, that came 00:12:43.419 --> 00:12:45.879 out just a couple years ago, you'd think by the 00:12:45.879 --> 00:12:48.299 2020s we would be more respectful. That was another 00:12:48.299 --> 00:12:51.679 massive blow. She did not consent to that show. 00:12:52.000 --> 00:12:54.799 She didn't participate. The producers claimed 00:12:54.799 --> 00:12:56.580 they were telling the story sympathetically, 00:12:56.720 --> 00:12:59.080 but they did it without her permission. So it's 00:12:59.080 --> 00:13:01.179 the same pattern. It's the exact same pattern. 00:13:01.470 --> 00:13:03.289 She felt that it was essentially profiting from 00:13:03.289 --> 00:13:05.629 her trauma all over again. Lily James played 00:13:05.629 --> 00:13:08.110 her and won awards for it, while Pamela was at 00:13:08.110 --> 00:13:10.009 home having to relive the worst moment of her 00:13:10.009 --> 00:13:12.970 life. It's a recurring theme. People taking her 00:13:12.970 --> 00:13:15.049 story, taking her image, and selling it without 00:13:15.049 --> 00:13:17.070 her permission. Constantly. And when you look 00:13:17.070 --> 00:13:19.149 at that trauma, it actually goes back much further 00:13:19.149 --> 00:13:21.690 than the 90s. It starts in her childhood. It 00:13:21.690 --> 00:13:24.509 does. In 2014, she opened up about this at a 00:13:24.509 --> 00:13:29.330 charity gala in Cannes. It is heavy. She revealed 00:13:29.330 --> 00:13:32.309 a history of severe sexual abuse. This is hard 00:13:32.309 --> 00:13:34.909 to even talk about. She was molested by a babysitter 00:13:34.909 --> 00:13:36.909 between the ages of 6 and 10. She was raped at 00:13:36.909 --> 00:13:39.730 12. She was gang raped at 14. God, when you hear 00:13:39.730 --> 00:13:41.690 that and then you look at her public persona, 00:13:41.970 --> 00:13:46.129 this bubbly, smiling, everything is fun attitude 00:13:46.129 --> 00:13:49.269 she maintained for decades. It's just, the resilience 00:13:49.269 --> 00:13:51.909 is... Unbelievable. It really recontextualizes 00:13:51.909 --> 00:13:53.990 everything. She wasn't just a dumb blonde trope, 00:13:53.990 --> 00:13:55.970 which is how the media painted her. She was a 00:13:55.970 --> 00:13:58.629 survivor. She learned to dissociate. She learned 00:13:58.629 --> 00:14:01.830 that being the object was a way to survive. She 00:14:01.830 --> 00:14:04.029 mentioned in her memoir that she learned to leave 00:14:04.029 --> 00:14:07.409 her body. Wow. That skill leaving her body probably 00:14:07.409 --> 00:14:09.529 helped her survive the invasion of the paparazzi 00:14:09.529 --> 00:14:11.889 in the 90s. It's a defense mechanism. A brutal 00:14:11.889 --> 00:14:14.230 one. And despite all of that, she kept working. 00:14:14.389 --> 00:14:16.789 I mean, looking at the 2000s and 2010s, she never 00:14:16.789 --> 00:14:18.990 stopped. She couldn't stop. She couldn't afford 00:14:18.990 --> 00:14:21.370 to stop, right? She couldn't afford to stop. 00:14:22.049 --> 00:14:24.970 She had financial troubles, largely due to bad 00:14:24.970 --> 00:14:27.190 management and spending, but she kept hustling. 00:14:27.590 --> 00:14:31.049 She produced and starred in VIP for four years. 00:14:32.110 --> 00:14:34.409 She did Stacked, where she played a bookstore 00:14:34.409 --> 00:14:37.090 employee. Kind of winking at her own image? Completely. 00:14:37.289 --> 00:14:40.649 Yeah. But then she really pivoted to reality 00:14:40.649 --> 00:14:44.580 TV. And looking at this list... She was everywhere. 00:14:44.919 --> 00:14:46.919 It feels like she was on a world tour of reality 00:14:46.919 --> 00:14:49.340 television. She was. Dancing with the Stars. 00:14:49.820 --> 00:14:52.679 She did the U .S. version twice, season 10, and 00:14:52.679 --> 00:14:54.899 the All -Star season 15. Yeah. Then she did the 00:14:54.899 --> 00:14:57.120 French version, season 9. She was a popular booking. 00:14:57.320 --> 00:14:59.480 Then she did Dancing on Ice in the U .K. That's 00:14:59.480 --> 00:15:01.820 a lot of dancing. But it's the Big Brother franchise 00:15:01.820 --> 00:15:04.799 that really shows the global hustle. Usually 00:15:04.799 --> 00:15:06.860 when a star goes on Big Brother, it's seen as 00:15:06.860 --> 00:15:09.139 the end of the line. It's sort of the last resort. 00:15:09.379 --> 00:15:11.879 Right. She did Big Brother in the UK, Big Brother 00:15:11.879 --> 00:15:14.659 in Australia, Big Brother Germany, Big Brother 00:15:14.659 --> 00:15:18.259 Bulgaria. Wait, Bulgaria? Yes. And Big Boss in 00:15:18.259 --> 00:15:20.399 India. India too. She was in the house for three 00:15:20.399 --> 00:15:23.299 days in India, wearing a sari, sweeping the floors, 00:15:23.480 --> 00:15:26.139 interacting with Bollywood stars who were awestruck 00:15:26.139 --> 00:15:29.399 by her. It's surreal to even picture. And she 00:15:29.399 --> 00:15:31.440 even did pantomime in London. She played the 00:15:31.440 --> 00:15:34.360 genie in Aladdin. Oh, wow. For our American listeners, 00:15:34.620 --> 00:15:38.620 pantomime is this very specific British Christmas 00:15:38.620 --> 00:15:42.440 theater tradition. It's campy. It's loud. And 00:15:42.440 --> 00:15:45.179 there was Pamela Anderson, the biggest sex symbol 00:15:45.179 --> 00:15:47.720 in the world, playing the genie at the New Wimbledon 00:15:47.720 --> 00:15:49.820 Theater. What does that tell you about her, that 00:15:49.820 --> 00:15:52.159 she's willing to do all of that? It tells me 00:15:52.159 --> 00:15:55.490 she has zero ego about status. She's a worker. 00:15:55.929 --> 00:15:58.549 She needed to pay the bills, so she went where 00:15:58.549 --> 00:16:01.210 the work was. She was often the punchline during 00:16:01.210 --> 00:16:03.750 these years, subjecting to that has -been narrative, 00:16:03.950 --> 00:16:06.309 but she was always in on the joke. She knew what 00:16:06.309 --> 00:16:08.190 she was doing. She knew what the game was. She 00:16:08.190 --> 00:16:10.470 showed up, she smiled, she collected the check, 00:16:10.590 --> 00:16:12.799 and she went home. While she was doing all this 00:16:12.799 --> 00:16:15.179 reality TV, though, she was building this entirely 00:16:15.179 --> 00:16:18.120 different identity as an activist, a parallel 00:16:18.120 --> 00:16:20.039 life. And I think this is where people really 00:16:20.039 --> 00:16:22.220 start to get surprised by Pamela Anderson, because 00:16:22.220 --> 00:16:24.960 it wasn't just I love puppies. It was radical. 00:16:25.539 --> 00:16:28.100 Absolutely. Most people know about PETA. She's 00:16:28.100 --> 00:16:31.320 been a PETA heavyweight for decades. She wasn't 00:16:31.320 --> 00:16:33.559 just a donor. She was the face of their most 00:16:33.559 --> 00:16:35.919 controversial campaigns. I remember the ads. 00:16:36.120 --> 00:16:38.200 They were always on the news. They were designed 00:16:38.200 --> 00:16:41.299 to shock. They were. All animals have the same 00:16:41.299 --> 00:16:44.399 parts, Ad. She was in a bikini, but her body 00:16:44.399 --> 00:16:47.279 was marked up like a butcher's chart rump, ribs, 00:16:47.539 --> 00:16:50.340 shoulder. It was incredibly confronting. And 00:16:50.340 --> 00:16:51.940 that got banned, right? It was banned in Montreal 00:16:51.940 --> 00:16:54.419 for being sexist. Yeah. And Pamela's response 00:16:54.419 --> 00:16:57.039 was classic. She called the ban puritanical. 00:16:57.360 --> 00:17:00.440 She wrote, in a city known for its exotic dancing. 00:17:00.909 --> 00:17:03.190 How sad that a woman will be banned from using 00:17:03.190 --> 00:17:05.410 her own body in a political protest. She has 00:17:05.410 --> 00:17:07.829 a point. It's her body. If she wants to use it 00:17:07.829 --> 00:17:10.309 to save cows, who is the government to stop her? 00:17:10.470 --> 00:17:13.509 Exactly. But her commitment to animals goes deep. 00:17:13.529 --> 00:17:15.630 It's not a PR stunt. No, it started way back. 00:17:15.849 --> 00:17:17.710 She became a vegetarian in her teens because 00:17:17.710 --> 00:17:19.910 she saw her father cleaning a deer he'd hunted. 00:17:20.569 --> 00:17:23.390 Seeing the bloody deer, that visceral reality 00:17:23.390 --> 00:17:26.089 of death, changed her. She went vegan in her 00:17:26.089 --> 00:17:28.539 20s, way before it was trendy in Hollywood. But 00:17:28.539 --> 00:17:30.720 while the animal rights stuff fits her brand, 00:17:31.019 --> 00:17:33.839 her anti -pornography crusade is a fascinating 00:17:33.839 --> 00:17:36.640 pivot. This is the one that really throws people. 00:17:36.900 --> 00:17:39.019 It stops people in their tracks. Yeah. The woman 00:17:39.019 --> 00:17:41.940 with the most Playboy covers is anti -porn. It 00:17:41.940 --> 00:17:44.400 sounds like hypocrisy on the surface. It sounds 00:17:44.400 --> 00:17:46.039 like pulling up the ladder after you've climbed 00:17:46.039 --> 00:17:48.500 it. Right. But when you actually read her arguments, 00:17:48.740 --> 00:17:52.980 it's much more nuanced. In 2016, she co -authored 00:17:52.980 --> 00:17:55.220 a Wall Street Journal op -ed. Her co -author. 00:17:55.630 --> 00:17:58.630 This is the best part. Orthodox rabbi Shmuleybo 00:17:58.630 --> 00:18:02.029 Teach. That is the most unexpected duo I have 00:18:02.029 --> 00:18:05.869 ever heard of. Pamela Anderson and a rabbi. It 00:18:05.869 --> 00:18:08.769 sounds like the setup for a joke. To say the 00:18:08.769 --> 00:18:11.190 least. They wrote a book together called Lust 00:18:11.190 --> 00:18:13.890 for Love. And their argument wasn't from a place 00:18:13.890 --> 00:18:16.690 of religious shame, exactly. They called online 00:18:16.690 --> 00:18:19.869 porn a public hazard. They argued for a sensual 00:18:19.869 --> 00:18:22.589 revolution. What does that even mean, a sensual 00:18:22.589 --> 00:18:24.609 revolution? Essentially, they were distinguishing 00:18:24.609 --> 00:18:27.990 between eroticism and pornography. Anderson argues 00:18:27.990 --> 00:18:30.329 that high -speed, hardcore, mechanical online 00:18:30.329 --> 00:18:33.470 porn desensitizes people. It destroys intimacy. 00:18:33.750 --> 00:18:35.769 So it's about the connection. It's about connection. 00:18:36.069 --> 00:18:38.910 She believes in eroticism, which is about... 00:18:39.200 --> 00:18:43.160 connection, slowness, sensuality. She felt that 00:18:43.160 --> 00:18:45.359 the industry she helped build had morphed into 00:18:45.359 --> 00:18:47.640 something monstrous and cold. So she's not anti 00:18:47.640 --> 00:18:50.400 -sex. She's anti -commodification. Exactly. She's 00:18:50.400 --> 00:18:53.299 saying, I own my sexuality. I don't want it commodified 00:18:53.299 --> 00:18:57.420 in this detached, aggressive way. It's a surprisingly 00:18:57.420 --> 00:19:00.200 philosophical stance. She's actually aligning 00:19:00.200 --> 00:19:02.279 herself more with certain strands of radical 00:19:02.279 --> 00:19:04.880 feminism than with the porn industry. It's way 00:19:04.880 --> 00:19:06.640 more complex than people give her credit for. 00:19:06.700 --> 00:19:09.059 Or even more. And speaking of unexpected alliances 00:19:09.059 --> 00:19:11.660 and radical stances, we have to talk about her 00:19:11.660 --> 00:19:14.539 political activism. Because she went to bat. 00:19:15.079 --> 00:19:17.299 For Julian Assange. Julian Assange. This wasn't 00:19:17.299 --> 00:19:19.259 just a tweet of support. She dedicated years 00:19:19.259 --> 00:19:21.279 to this. No, she was there. She went to Bill 00:19:21.279 --> 00:19:23.259 Marsh Prison, a high security prison in London, 00:19:23.339 --> 00:19:26.000 to visit him multiple times. I remember seeing 00:19:26.000 --> 00:19:28.420 the photos. She would show up looking incredibly 00:19:28.420 --> 00:19:32.079 glamorous, but serious. It was a statement. She 00:19:32.079 --> 00:19:34.960 used her visibility as a weapon. She knew the 00:19:34.960 --> 00:19:37.059 cameras would follow her. So she went to the 00:19:37.059 --> 00:19:40.019 prison wearing these statement coats with slogans 00:19:40.019 --> 00:19:42.640 on them to force the media to talk about Assange. 00:19:43.220 --> 00:19:46.279 She called him a hero. She publicly challenged 00:19:46.279 --> 00:19:48.299 the Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, 00:19:48.579 --> 00:19:50.700 to help him. Didn't she go on Tucker Carlson? 00:19:50.920 --> 00:19:53.660 She did. And this got her a lot of flack from 00:19:53.660 --> 00:19:56.079 the left. I can imagine. She went on Tucker Carlson's 00:19:56.079 --> 00:20:00.019 show on Fox News specifically to ask Donald Trump 00:20:00.019 --> 00:20:02.880 to pardon Assange. That is a very specific and 00:20:02.880 --> 00:20:06.000 very brave strategy. It is. And she wrote to 00:20:06.000 --> 00:20:08.180 Vladimir Putin. She wrote to Putin about what? 00:20:08.339 --> 00:20:11.579 To save whales. She wanted to stop the importation 00:20:11.579 --> 00:20:14.819 of whale meat or seal products into Russia. and 00:20:14.819 --> 00:20:17.039 she actually met with Kremlin officials. She 00:20:17.039 --> 00:20:19.119 really will talk to anyone. That's the takeaway 00:20:19.119 --> 00:20:21.640 here. Pamela Anderson does not fit in a political 00:20:21.640 --> 00:20:24.279 box. She supports Green Party candidates. She 00:20:24.279 --> 00:20:26.500 supports Assange. She talks to the Kremlin about 00:20:26.500 --> 00:20:29.319 whales. She goes on Fox News. It's issue based. 00:20:29.559 --> 00:20:32.680 It's completely issue based. She engages with 00:20:32.680 --> 00:20:35.859 whoever she thinks has the power to fix the specific 00:20:35.859 --> 00:20:38.680 problem she cares about. She is fearless in that 00:20:38.680 --> 00:20:40.859 way. She doesn't care if it looks bad to her 00:20:40.859 --> 00:20:42.579 liberal friends if she thinks it will save a 00:20:42.579 --> 00:20:45.779 whale. So we have the pinup, the survivor, the 00:20:45.779 --> 00:20:48.849 reality. star, the radical activist. But then 00:20:48.849 --> 00:20:52.390 around 2022, something shifts again. The narrative 00:20:52.390 --> 00:20:55.890 starts to change. The Pamela Zahn's begins. It 00:20:55.890 --> 00:20:58.950 starts, interestingly enough, on Broadway. And 00:20:58.950 --> 00:21:00.950 Broadway is a cruel place. You can't edit a live 00:21:00.950 --> 00:21:04.009 performance. If you can't act, the audience knows 00:21:04.009 --> 00:21:06.289 instantly. There's nowhere to hide. And she was 00:21:06.289 --> 00:21:09.339 cast in Chicago. She played Roxy Hart. And the 00:21:09.339 --> 00:21:11.299 reviews were rave. It wasn't just, oh, she didn't 00:21:11.299 --> 00:21:13.799 trip. It was, she understands this character. 00:21:14.019 --> 00:21:15.539 I mean, the character is kind of perfect for 00:21:15.539 --> 00:21:18.259 her. It is. Roxy Hart is a woman who craves fame, 00:21:18.400 --> 00:21:21.579 who was used by the media. Pamela brought her 00:21:21.579 --> 00:21:23.859 own life experience to that role. She received 00:21:23.859 --> 00:21:25.980 standing ovations. And then came the documentary. 00:21:26.380 --> 00:21:29.000 Pamela, a love story on Netflix. This was the 00:21:29.000 --> 00:21:31.220 turning point. This was everything. It was crucial 00:21:31.220 --> 00:21:34.059 because it was produced by her son, Brandon Thomas 00:21:34.059 --> 00:21:37.990 Lee. For the first time, she had control. No 00:21:37.990 --> 00:21:41.470 stolen tapes, no unauthorized biopics. She told 00:21:41.470 --> 00:21:45.029 her story her way. And it coincided with her 00:21:45.029 --> 00:21:48.269 memoir, Love, Pamela. Which hit hashtag two on 00:21:48.269 --> 00:21:50.690 the New York Times bestseller list. And so we 00:21:50.690 --> 00:21:52.190 need to talk about the writing in that memoir. 00:21:52.690 --> 00:21:54.710 Celebrity memoirs are usually ghostwritten. They're 00:21:54.710 --> 00:21:58.410 usually bland. This book is poetic. Really? It's 00:21:58.410 --> 00:22:00.549 interspersed with her own poetry. Wait, she wrote 00:22:00.549 --> 00:22:03.150 poetry in the book? Yes. Yeah. And it's raw. 00:22:03.670 --> 00:22:14.039 She talks about writing as... It was the voice 00:22:14.039 --> 00:22:17.660 of the girl who listened to her grandfather's 00:22:17.660 --> 00:22:19.400 stories about the whispering trees. It's her 00:22:19.400 --> 00:22:21.519 authentic voice finally coming through. Finally. 00:22:21.619 --> 00:22:24.240 And that documentary led directly to her current 00:22:24.240 --> 00:22:26.720 moment, right? To The Last Showgirl. It did. 00:22:26.920 --> 00:22:29.140 The director, Gia Coppola, part of the famous 00:22:29.140 --> 00:22:32.200 Coppola dynasty, watched that documentary. She 00:22:32.200 --> 00:22:35.019 saw a scene where Pamela is without makeup, just 00:22:35.019 --> 00:22:38.220 talking about her life. Gia saw a raw, unguarded 00:22:38.220 --> 00:22:40.859 quality. And she decided she wanted her for her 00:22:40.859 --> 00:22:43.759 film, The Last Showgirl. But there was drama 00:22:43.759 --> 00:22:46.079 getting the script to her. This is the part that 00:22:46.079 --> 00:22:48.740 makes me so angry on her behalf. It's infuriating. 00:22:48.900 --> 00:22:52.000 It is. Gia sent the script to Pamela's agent. 00:22:52.119 --> 00:22:54.299 The agent turned it down. Did he even show it 00:22:54.299 --> 00:22:57.039 to her? No. He didn't even tell Pamela. He just 00:22:57.039 --> 00:22:59.480 assumed, oh, Pamela Anderson doesn't do indie 00:22:59.480 --> 00:23:03.019 dramas. She does reality TV or cameos. He gatekept 00:23:03.019 --> 00:23:04.980 her. He decided what her career was. That is 00:23:04.980 --> 00:23:06.779 the story of her life, isn't it? Men deciding 00:23:06.779 --> 00:23:09.839 what she's allowed to be. Exactly. But Gia Coppola 00:23:09.839 --> 00:23:13.119 didn't give up. She DM'd Pamela's son, Brandon, 00:23:13.299 --> 00:23:15.460 on Instagram. Social media saves the day. She 00:23:15.460 --> 00:23:17.599 said, I have this script. I think your mom is 00:23:17.599 --> 00:23:20.099 perfect for it. Thank goodness for DMs. Seriously. 00:23:20.359 --> 00:23:22.880 Yeah. Because Brandon showed it to Pamela. Pamela 00:23:22.880 --> 00:23:25.380 read it and said, this is me. I have to do this. 00:23:25.480 --> 00:23:27.900 And she accepted. And now because of that DM, 00:23:28.000 --> 00:23:30.359 she is nominated for a Golden Globe and a SAG 00:23:30.359 --> 00:23:32.880 Award. It almost didn't happen. It almost didn't 00:23:32.880 --> 00:23:34.579 happen. And what's the role? Why is it hitting 00:23:34.579 --> 00:23:37.619 so hard with critics? She plays a veteran showgirl 00:23:37.619 --> 00:23:40.480 in Las Vegas, a woman who has been wearing the 00:23:40.480 --> 00:23:44.480 feathers and rhinestones for 30 years. But the 00:23:44.480 --> 00:23:46.900 show is closing. She is aging out of the industry. 00:23:47.019 --> 00:23:49.259 She has to figure out who she is when the spotlight 00:23:49.259 --> 00:23:51.420 turns off. It's incredibly meta. It's her life. 00:23:51.680 --> 00:23:55.119 It mirrors her own life perfectly. Being looked 00:23:55.119 --> 00:23:58.660 at, aging in an industry that values youth, finding 00:23:58.660 --> 00:24:01.279 dignity in the next chapter. The reviews say 00:24:01.279 --> 00:24:04.059 she plays it with zero vanity. She appears on 00:24:04.059 --> 00:24:06.700 screen with barely any makeup. She's not playing 00:24:06.700 --> 00:24:09.839 Pamela Anderson, the brand. Not at all. The BBC 00:24:09.839 --> 00:24:12.329 called her a revelation. The Hollywood Reporter 00:24:12.329 --> 00:24:14.450 called it a transformative performance. It's 00:24:14.450 --> 00:24:17.349 perfect casting. And at the same time, she's 00:24:17.349 --> 00:24:20.369 doing the Naked Gun reboot. The comedy. Which 00:24:20.369 --> 00:24:22.869 is such a fun full circle moment. Back in the 00:24:22.869 --> 00:24:25.490 90s, she was offered a role in Naked Gun 3313 00:24:25.490 --> 00:24:28.769 and churned it down. Now, 30 years later, she's 00:24:28.769 --> 00:24:31.309 co -starring with Liam Neeson in the 2025 sequel. 00:24:31.549 --> 00:24:34.029 So she's flexing both muscles. It shows she can 00:24:34.029 --> 00:24:35.710 do the heavy drama, but she hasn't lost that 00:24:35.710 --> 00:24:38.029 sense of humor. She can still be funny. So she's 00:24:38.029 --> 00:24:40.779 winning awards. She's in blockbusters. But where 00:24:40.779 --> 00:24:42.420 is she actually living? Because she's not in 00:24:42.420 --> 00:24:44.160 Hollywood, is she? She's not hitting the red 00:24:44.160 --> 00:24:47.119 carpets every night. No. And this is the final 00:24:47.119 --> 00:24:49.539 piece of the puzzle, the epilogue to the story. 00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:52.380 She moved back to Ladysmith. Back to British 00:24:52.380 --> 00:24:54.599 Columbia. Back to her childhood home. The one 00:24:54.599 --> 00:24:57.339 her grandmother owned. The very same. She bought 00:24:57.339 --> 00:24:59.420 it from her grandmother years ago. She renovated 00:24:59.420 --> 00:25:03.240 it. And now she lives there with her dogs. She 00:25:03.240 --> 00:25:05.460 has a huge vegetable garden. She calls the farm 00:25:05.460 --> 00:25:08.299 Arcady. She's farming. The woman from the Playboy 00:25:08.299 --> 00:25:10.519 Mansion is farming. She's effectively a farmer. 00:25:10.779 --> 00:25:13.559 She's canning vegetables. She's making jams. 00:25:13.779 --> 00:25:17.519 And that led to her cookbook, I Love You, Recipes 00:25:17.519 --> 00:25:20.299 from the Heart. Now, usually when a celebrity 00:25:20.299 --> 00:25:22.460 releases a cookbook, I roll my eyes. It feels 00:25:22.460 --> 00:25:24.920 like a cash grab. Here is my favorite salad. 00:25:25.200 --> 00:25:27.380 Is this that? Not at all. This book is legitimate. 00:25:27.849 --> 00:25:30.609 The photography alone was nominated for a 2025 00:25:30.609 --> 00:25:34.049 James Beard Award. Whoa. OK, for those who don't 00:25:34.049 --> 00:25:36.390 follow the food world, a James Beard nomination 00:25:36.390 --> 00:25:39.230 is effectively the Oscars of cooking. It's the 00:25:39.230 --> 00:25:42.369 highest honor. It's not a vanity prize. It is 00:25:42.369 --> 00:25:44.809 a serious validation from the culinary world. 00:25:45.009 --> 00:25:47.349 Exactly. Drew Barrymore and Martha Stewart have 00:25:47.349 --> 00:25:49.269 praised it. She has a show on the Flavor Network 00:25:49.269 --> 00:25:52.069 called Pamela's Cooking with Love. It's very 00:25:52.069 --> 00:25:54.670 earthy, very authentic. She talks about the dough 00:25:54.670 --> 00:25:56.950 feeling like a body. Of course she does. It connects 00:25:56.950 --> 00:25:59.049 back to that central revolution she talks about. 00:25:59.309 --> 00:26:02.470 Cooking is a central act for her. It sounds idyllic. 00:26:02.470 --> 00:26:04.549 It sounds like she finally found peace. It does. 00:26:04.710 --> 00:26:06.990 She's baking pies, growing vegetables, and accepting 00:26:06.990 --> 00:26:09.789 Golden Globe nominations via Zoom from her kitchen. 00:26:10.359 --> 00:26:14.039 So when we step back and look at this whole journey 00:26:14.039 --> 00:26:18.660 from the centennial baby to the jumbotron to 00:26:18.660 --> 00:26:21.759 the stolen tapes, the activism, and now this 00:26:21.759 --> 00:26:25.859 massive critical acclaim, what does it all mean? 00:26:25.940 --> 00:26:27.640 What's the lesson here? I think it's a story 00:26:27.640 --> 00:26:30.359 about control. For 30 years, Pamela Anderson 00:26:30.359 --> 00:26:33.160 was a product. That's the word. She was an image 00:26:33.160 --> 00:26:35.440 on a jumbotron, a centerfold, a character in 00:26:35.440 --> 00:26:38.740 a swimsuit, a punchline. She was defined by what 00:26:38.740 --> 00:26:41.559 men wanted her to be. She was the vessel for 00:26:41.559 --> 00:26:43.599 everyone else's fantasies and everyone else's 00:26:43.599 --> 00:26:47.299 profit. And now. Now, she defines herself. She 00:26:47.299 --> 00:26:50.220 reclaimed her story with the documentary. She 00:26:50.220 --> 00:26:52.519 reclaimed her intellect with her writing. She 00:26:52.519 --> 00:26:55.599 reclaimed her body with her activism. And she 00:26:55.599 --> 00:26:58.140 reclaimed her talent with The Last Showgirl. 00:26:58.480 --> 00:27:01.220 She took the pieces of her life that were stolen 00:27:01.220 --> 00:27:03.900 or mocked, and she put them back together into 00:27:03.900 --> 00:27:06.640 something undeniable. It's resilience, pure and 00:27:06.640 --> 00:27:08.640 simple. I mean, she's been married five times. 00:27:08.700 --> 00:27:11.000 She's lost fortune. She's been mocked by the 00:27:11.000 --> 00:27:14.119 entire world. And she ends up back home in Canada 00:27:14.119 --> 00:27:16.940 winning awards and baking pies. It's the ultimate 00:27:16.940 --> 00:27:19.579 comeback. But I think the most poignant thing 00:27:19.579 --> 00:27:21.799 she said recently was about the awards. She was 00:27:21.799 --> 00:27:24.740 asked how it felt to finally win. And she said, 00:27:24.839 --> 00:27:27.619 I always say the win is in the work. The win 00:27:27.619 --> 00:27:30.660 is in the work. After everything, the fame, the 00:27:30.660 --> 00:27:33.539 money, the scandals, she has realized that the 00:27:33.539 --> 00:27:36.599 only thing that matters is the craft. Doing something 00:27:36.599 --> 00:27:39.359 you love for your soul, not for the applause, 00:27:39.519 --> 00:27:42.109 but for the act itself. That is a powerful place 00:27:42.109 --> 00:27:43.789 to land. And I want to leave you with this thought. 00:27:43.910 --> 00:27:46.890 In a world that is obsessed with image, an obsession 00:27:46.890 --> 00:27:50.029 that Pamela Anderson frankly helped create for 00:27:50.029 --> 00:27:53.009 a whole generation, she has pivoted entirely 00:27:53.009 --> 00:27:56.470 to substance. Does her journey suggest that the 00:27:56.470 --> 00:28:00.349 only way to really survive fame is to eventually 00:28:00.349 --> 00:28:02.970 dismantle the persona that created it? That is 00:28:02.970 --> 00:28:05.690 the question. Can you kill the icon to save the 00:28:05.690 --> 00:28:07.910 person? I think she proves you can. Something 00:28:07.910 --> 00:28:09.549 to think about. If you want to see that meat 00:28:09.549 --> 00:28:11.349 chart ad we talked about or check out her reading 00:28:11.349 --> 00:28:13.150 list from the Criterion Closet, which is fantastic, 00:28:13.410 --> 00:28:15.990 by the way, she recommends La Dolce Vita Check, 00:28:16.109 --> 00:28:17.950 the show notes. We've got links to all of it. 00:28:18.029 --> 00:28:19.869 Thanks for listening. Catch you on the next deep 00:28:19.869 --> 00:28:20.130 dive.