Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee‘s sex tape is one of the most infamous NSFW celebrity videos in Hollywood history. Keep reading for how it got released, what Pam and Tommy have said about it over the years and the impact it had on their marriage. 

When Was Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee’s Sex Tape Filmed?

The couple honeymooned aboard a boat in Lake Mead on the Nevada and Arizona border following their February 19, 1995, beach wedding in Cancun, Mexico. Pam and Tommy had known each other for only four days before tying the knot and had a very passionate time on their honeymoon, which they documented in a 54-minute video. While there was plenty of skinny dipping, the tape also featured approximately eight minutes of the pair having sex.

When Was Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee’s Sex Tape Released?

The newlyweds intended to keep their frisky video private and put it in a safe at their Malibu home. But the safe itself was stolen by electrician Rand Gauthier in retaliation for Tommy firing him following a dispute over pay. He hoped to recoup money the Mötley Crüe drummer allegedly owed him for work on the house. Rand thought the safe might contain guns or jewelry that he could sell and was stunned to find the couple’s sex tape. He made copies of it and sold them out of the trunk of his car for $175 each.

The video was eventually uploaded online and streamed via the Internet Entertainment Group. In 1997, the company’s founder, Seth Warshavsky, gave Pam and Tommy the dire offer that they could allow him to keep streaming the video for free viewing to anyone wanting to watch it, or sell the rights to IEG, allowing only Seth to profit from it. To decrease the volume of views, Pam and Tommy reluctantly signed over the distribution rights to Seth. It’s estimated he profited $77 million in the first year he owned it.

Rand later showed no remorse about making Pam and Tommy the OG stars of celebrity sex tapes. “They’re in love and a couple and they’re just having fun with each other, and I think that’s great,” he said in a 2014 Rolling Stone interview.

Pamela Anderson Tommy Lee Sex Tape History
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What Has Pamela Anderson Said About Her Sex Tape With Tommy Lee?

The Baywatch alum wrote in her January 2023 memoir Love, Pamela, that the release of the very personal video with her husband was the beginning of their marriage’s demise, as it “ruined” the couple’s happiness. She filed for divorce in 1998.

Pam has said that she’s never viewed the sex tape. In the new Netflix documentary, Pamela, A Love Story, her sons, Brandon and Dylan, whom she shares with Tommy, tell her that a Hulu series about the couple’s video drama, Pam & Tommy, is coming out. She responds, “I have no desire to watch it. I never watched the tape, I’m never going to watch this,” adding, “It really gives me nightmares.”

Also in the documentary’s trailer, Pam reveals, “I blocked that stolen tape out of my life in order to survive. Now that it’s all coming up again, I feel sick.”

Actress Lily James, who portrayed the Barb Wire star in Pam & Tommy, revealed she wrote the pop culture icon a letter ahead of production. “I was really hopeful that she would be involved. I wish it had been different,” the British beauty told  Net-a-Porter’s Porter in January 2022. “I was very hopeful that we would be in touch right up until we started filming … My sole intention was to take care of the story and to play Pamela authentically.” Lily never heard back from Pam.

What Has Tommy Lee Said About His Sex Tape With Pamela Anderson?

In his 2004 memoir, Tommyland, the percussionist wrote, “My heart stopped for a second when I realized that it had been stolen.” In February 2022, ahead of the debut of Pam & Tommy, the musician told Entertainment Tonight, “The story’s actually cool, what actually happened wasn’t.”

Actor Sebastian Stan, who played the rocker, expressed to Tommy that their tale would be told with respect. “From what he’s told me, it’s a really beautiful story,” the Greece native told the outlet, adding, “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.”