Pamela Anderson was just 23 when she made her television debut on the hit ABC sitcom, Home Improvement.
The show, which aired in 1991, starred Tim Allen — who was around 38 at the time — as the main character, Tim Taylor.
Pamela portrayed Lisa in the first two seasons of the comedy, and later went on to land the renowned role of C.J. Parker on Baywatch.
Now recalling an alleged disturbing incident that occurred on the Home Improvement set, Pamela claimed that Tim flashed his penis at her on her very first day shooting the show.
The claim was made in an excerpt of the actor’s upcoming memoir, titled Love, Pamela, which has been obtained by Variety ahead of its release on Jan. 31.
“On the first day of filming, I walked out of my dressing room, and Tim was in the hallway in his robe,” Pamela wrote.
“He opened his robe and flashed me quickly — completely naked underneath,” she claimed.
Pamela, who famously modeled for Playboy before her acting career began, went on to claim that Tim’s reasoning for flashing her was to get “even,” given that he’d seen her naked before.
“He said it was only fair, because he had seen me naked. ‘Now we’re even.’ I laughed uncomfortably,” she alleged.
Variety later noted that they reached out to Tim about Pamela’s accusation, and he firmly denied her claim.
“No, it never happened. I would never do such a thing,” he said in a statement given to the outlet.
But Pamela was still met with floods of support from internet users after the excerpt was released, many of whom pointed out that she wouldn’t have been able to comfortably speak out back in the ’90s.
“It was 1991 and she was a new actress who was only known for posing for Playboy… they would have blacklisted her so fast and ripped her apart in the press. So glad she is able to tell all now,” one person tweeted.
@PopBase The people saying why didn’t she say anything at that time? It was 1991 and she was a new actress who was only known for posing for Playboy… they would have blacklisted her so fast and ripped her apart in the press. So glad she is able to tell all now.
“even if she reported back then society and the justice system would have sided with Tim. Reporting sexual assault/harassment especially if the assaulter/harassed is a well liked rich white man like Tim is often even today a career killer,” said another.
@luckySGM @PopBase Exactly and even if she reported back then society and the justice system would have sided with Tim. Reporting sexual assault/harassment especially if the assaulter/harassed is a well liked rich white man like Tim is often even today a career killer.
“So many people asking why she waited so long to say anything even after learning millions of reasons why women don’t come forward. Y’all do so much disservice,” a third person wrote.
@PopBase So many people asking why she waited so long to say anything even after learning millions of reasons why women don’t come forward. Y’all do so much disservice.
“Not only that, no one was gonna believe her bc everyone considered her a ‘slut,’ she was dehumanized and vilified for posing nude and for the sex tape,” someone else added.
@luckySGM @PopBase Not only that, no one was gonna believe her bc everyone considered her a “slut”, she was dehumanized and vilified for posing nude and for the sex tape
Pamela’s sex tape with her now-ex-husband, Tommy Lee, was infamously stolen and leaked without her consent in the late 1990s.
Last year, Hulu series Pam & Tommy — in which actors Lily James and Sebastian Stan portrayed the titular couple — focused on depicting the nonconsensual release of the stolen tape without Pamela’s permission. As a result, the show was met with heaps of criticism online.
Speaking about the Hulu show earlier this month, Pamela told the New York Times: “It was already hurtful enough the first time. It’s like one of those things where you’re going, ‘Really?’ People are still capitalizing off that thing?”
However, Pamela has vowed to tell her real story in her forthcoming memoir and Netflix documentary, Pamela, A Love Story. “I felt I need to tell my story. And I really couldn’t let anybody do it but me,” she said.
