‘Pam & Tommy’: The Real Rand Gauthier Once Said He ‘Made’ Tommy Lee’s Career
Initially known as the drummer for Mötley Crüe, Tommy Lee’s fame skyrocketed when his and then-wife Pamela Anderson’s sex tape appeared online. Irate electrician Rand Gauthier, who stole the video and sold it through the Internet after the rockstar held him at gunpoint, as depicted in TV series Pam & Tommy, once claimed he “made” Lee’s career.
Unpaid electrician Rand Gauthier stole sex tape after being held at gunpoint
Hulu’s biographical drama series Pam & Tommy is derived from Amanda Chicago Lewis’ 2014 Rolling Stone article, “Pam and Tommy: The Untold Story of the World’s Most Infamous Sex Tape.”
The feature revolves around Rand Gauthier, the fed-up electrician who stole and sold celebrity couple Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee’s sex tape after they refused to pay him for work around their home.
When the pair fired him and many other workers, Gauthier returned to retrieve his tools and planned on taking his losses, but Lee threatened him with a shotgun. Being held at gunpoint “screwed” with the electrician, and he decided to get revenge by stealing their safe.
According to him, he “cased” their house for weeks during the summer of 1995, as the early episodes of Pam & Tommy highlighted with Seth Rogen portraying his character, and came up with a plan to sneak on the property and hide from the cameras he installed by disguising himself as their dog.
Rand Gauthier claims he ‘made’ Tommy Lee’s career
After disabling the cameras once inside, Gauthier eventually made his way to the garage and strapped the heavy Browning safe to a U-Haul, and wheeled it back to his van.
The former porn star claims he put the safe in his vehicle by himself; the author reports other accounts that believe he had an accomplice, such as the general contractor who Lee held at gunpoint with him.
After having difficulty finding a company to distribute the tape, Gauthier sold it online, accumulating around $77 million a year in legitimate sales. While the electrician initially released the sex tape to get one over on Lee, it inadvertently made the rockstar more famous, in part due to the size of his manhood.
“I made his career, is what happened,” the article quotes Gaither. The couple discovered the missing safe a couple of months later and attempted to stop the spread of the tape before eventually settling with Internet Entertainment Group.
Pamela Anderson wasn’t involved with ‘Pam & Tommy’ and reportedly refuses to watch the trailer
When Pam & Tommy went into development, producers and actor Lily James who portrays the Baywatch star, reached out to Anderson. However, she never responded.
Even without her participation, the show got the green light because it bought the exclusive right to the 2014 Rolling Stone article. A source close to the Canadian native told Entertainment Weekly that she would “never” watch the show, “not even the trailer.”
The person also confirmed that Anderson refuses to have anything to do with the miniseries. During production, rumors spread that the 54-year-old spoke negatively about James, but the source denies this.
They assert Anderson hasn’t made any comments about the Cinderella star’s appearance but noted they aren’t huge fans of how James depicted the model. She claimed Anderson isn’t as “meek” as she’s portrayed in the show, describing the actor as the opposite of a “shrinking violet.” Pam & Tommy is streaming on Hulu.
