‘Pam and Tommy’ Finale: 4 Things ‘Seattle’ Gets Right About Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee
The finale of Pam and Tommy dropped on Hulu Mar. 9, 2022. Since the series focuses on Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee’s 1995 sex tape, many people are curious how the final episode stacks up to reality. Here are four things the Pam and Tommy finale got right regarding Anderson and Lee’s life after the sex tape went viral.
Pamela Anderson had her ‘Tommy’ tattoo changed to ‘Mommy’
Pam and Tommy concludes with Anderson in a tattoo shop having the tattoo on her ring finger modified from “Tommy” to “Mommy.” The real-life Anderson had the tattoo changed, too (via E! News).
The pop culture icon had her tattoo altered shortly after filing for divorce from Lee in February 1998 for a second time (she previously filed in November 1996). At the time, Lee was charged with spousal and child abuse. According to the Los Angeles Times, Anderson cited irreconcilable differences.
Pamela Anderson’s home birth in the ‘Pam and Tommy’ finale actually happened
In the finale episode of Pam and Tommy, Lily James’ Anderson gives birth in their Malibu home. As it turns out, the real-life Anderson, who shares two sons, Brandon Thomas and Dylan Jagger, with Lee, chose natural childbirths for both.
“I loved the idea of having a water birth,” Anderson told Bamboo Family Magazine. “Natural and at home was the best way to go!”
“I had a wonderful midwife,” she continued. “I remember foolishly saying, ‘I can handle pain … I have tattoos!’ The wake-up call was the first contraction. I was screaming, ‘If this is what a contraction feels like I can’t do this!’ But of course, I did. And I did it again with my second child.”
Tommy Lee did get naked again, but not how the ‘Pam and Tommy’ finale describes
Pam and Tommy focuses on the fallout Anderson experienced in her career and personal life because of the infamous sex tape. In the finale episode of the Hulu series, Sebastian Stan’s Lee thinks he and his wife are in the same boat — after all, both of their genitals are on the tape.
But as the fictional Nikki Sixx (Iker Amaya) tells Tommy: “Dude, you love showing your d***.” He references a performance from Mötley Crüe’s Shout at the Devil tour wherein Tommy had his privates “out the whole drum solo.”
The real-life Lee was known for mooning audiences while performing with Mötley Crüe. But there’s no evidence to back the story from the Pam and Tommy finale up.
However, Lee did “bare it all” again in a music video for his band Methods Of Mayhem. “Get Naked” features a naked Lee and, as he described: “naked dirt bike riders, surfers, skaters, cops; you name it … it’s a free-for-all” (via MTV).
Seth Warshavsky did buy the rights to Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee’s sex tape
Fred Hechinger plays the fictional version of Seth Warshavsky in Pam and Tommy, who offers the couple a deal — sell him the rights to the sex tape so he legally owns the footage and can sell it to subscribers of his porn business. In the series, Pam wants to sign the agreement to put the tape behind them. But Tommy is skeptical, seeking justice over money.
In reality, Anderson and Lee were allegedly quick to sign Warshavsky’s agreement. As Lee recalled in his autobiography Tommyland, Warshavsky’s $250,000 offer for the tape was “beer money.”
Later, in 2002, a federal judge ordered Warshavsky’s defunct company Internet Entertainment Group to pay Anderson and Lee $740,000 each. But as Amanda Chicago Lewis reported in her Rolling Stone article that inspired the series, the couple never saw that money.
All eight episodes of Pam and Tommy are available on Hulu.
