‘Pam and Tommy’ Editor Talks ‘Special Care’ Taken to Ensure the Hulu Series Wasn’t Exploitative [Exclusive]
Pam and Tommy is Hulu‘s semi-biographical recount of what happened after Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee’s sex tape leaked. The reactions to Hulu’s Pam and Tommy have been mixed regarding how the show handles Anderson’s side of the story.
Showbiz Cheat Sheet spoke with Annette Davey, Pam and Tommy’s editor, to learn more about the “special care” taken behind the scenes to ensure the show didn’t become “exploitative.” Here’s what Davey had to say.
Not everyone is a fan of ‘Pam and Tommy’
Many critics celebrate the series, but there are those who knew Lee and Anderson who dislike the show. Former Mötley Crüe member John Corabi saw the “Uncle Jim and Aunt Susie in Duluth” episode and took to Facebook to express his opinion. “The [Pam and Tommy] miniseries on Hulu is so full of bulls***, it’s ridiculous!!!!” he wrote.
Others, including Anderson, refuse to even acknowledge the Hulu series. “It is shocking that this series is allowed to happen without her approval,” a source close to the pop culture icon told Entertainment Tonight. They continued:
“Pamela has no regrets about her life but the only thing she would probably erase is this burglary. She feels so violated to this day. It brings back a very painful time for her.”
Annette Davey ‘learned along with the audience’ working on ‘Pam and Tommy’
We connected with Davey over Zoom. When asked about the research the Maid editor did to prepare for Pam and Tommy, Davey talked about growing up in Australia and knowing very little about the sex tape.
“In some ways, I think that was an advantage because I wasn’t really super aware,” said Davey. “I knew about the sex tape, but I didn’t actually know very much detail about it. In some ways, I think that was helpful because I really learned along with the audience what had happened.”
For Davey, approaching Pam and Tommy in this way made for a “really fascinating” experience. She added, “I felt it made me quite sympathetic to what was happening.”
The Hulu series crew took ‘special care’ with the portrayal of the sex tape
Davey edited several episodes of the Hulu series, including the highly regarded “Pamela in Wonderland.” The episode focuses on Anderson’s deposition for the lawsuit against Penthouse, which wanted to publish stills of Anderson nude taken from the sex tape.
“There definitely was a lot of special care … especially surrounding any kind of nudity or any portrayal of the sex tape,” Davey told Showbiz. Pam and Tommy didn’t use footage from the real sex tape in the series, but Lily James and Sebastian Stan did recreate some of the scenes in their respective roles.
“It wasn’t just me,” Davey said of the care taken behind the scenes. She continued:
“Everybody involved was very conscious of making sure that the show itself wasn’t exploitative in any way. There was a lot of talk and discussion. We really tried to be as mindful of all of that as possible because I think that’s a really important thing to do. These are real people.”
Tommy Lee approves of ‘Pam and Tommy’ educating people about privacy
In a September 2021 interview with Entertainment Tonight, Lee connected with Stan regarding the Hulu series. “From what he’s told me, it’s a really beautiful story,” Lee said. He added:
“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. The story’s actually cool, what actually happened wasn’t.”
For Lee, “people need to know” what took place in 1995. As Davey explained it, the whole point of Pam and Tommy is to tell the story behind what happened after the sex tape was stolen — not drag anyone’s personal business through the mud. “We didn’t want anybody to relive any bad stuff again,” Davey concluded.
The final episode of Pam and Tommy is available exclusively on Hulu.
