Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee’s infamous sex tape became household fodder once again when Hulu released Pam & Tommy in February 2022. Now, almost a year later, Anderson is taking back the narrative. Her documentary Pamela, a love story, premiered on Netflix on Jan. 31, 2023. While the Hulu series does come up in passing, it’s not the focus. Anderson says she hasn’t seen Pam & Tommy, but her son Brandon Lee has. Here’s what Anderson’s eldest son had to say about the Rand Gauthier storyline in Pam & Tommy.
Rand Gauthier reportedly was involved in taking the sex tape
As Anderson points out in the documentary, they’re still not sure who stole the safe containing the videotape. Regardless, the Hulu series paints Rand Gauthier (Seth Rogen) as suspect number one, thanks to an article Rolling Stone published about the ordeal.
Amanda Chicago Lewis spoke with the real Gauthier about the tape in 2014. At the time, he claimed he took the tape after disabling security cameras, entering their garage, and tipping the Browning safe onto a dolly. Later, after Pam & Tommy came out in February 2022, Gauthier claimed he “didn’t steal the tape.”
“I was slightly involved,” Gauthier said in a since-deleted Facebook post. “After the tape was brought to Milton [Ingley] and me. The adult video world is a small group of people; it got around I was working for the [Lee]. It was then taken for granted that I took the tape and the whole thing spun out of control.”
Pamela Anderson’s documentary wasn’t made to set the record straight
In the final moments of Pamela, a love story, Anderson gets a call from Brandon about the series Pam & Tommy. She refused to watch it, but Brandon filled her in on the narrative. Part of the story is the fictional Gauthier stole the tape because Brandon’s “dad was a d***.” He pointed out how that wasn’t the case.
Pamela, a love story director Ryan White says Lee’s mention of the Hulu series wasn’t meant to be a “set the record straight” moment. “We didn’t watch it tit-for-tat in that way,” White explained to Netflix.
“For me, it was important to note that Pamela’s life is a lot more than that stolen tape, and the series mostly focused on that one hurtful juncture in her life. Of course, we cover that in our documentary, but we wanted to show Pamela in full rather than focus on that one small chapter in her life.”
Ryan White, Netflix
“We signed up for this film before that was even a thing,” producer Jessica Hargrave said. “I assume they optioned the Rolling Stone article years ago, but we didn’t know what stage of development it was in, or if it was in development at all. It’s certainly not why Ryan and I — or Pamela — wanted to make this film.” But that didn’t stop Brandon from speaking his piece.
Whoever stole the Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee sex tape remains a mystery
“We still don’t know who took the tape,” Anderson says periodically throughout Pamela, a love story. And we may never know — a truth society will have to be OK with.
Stream Pamela, a love story on Netflix.
