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Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee are recognized for a lot of points of their wild romance — the over-the-top appearances, the loudly shared lust between them, and, after all, the intercourse tape. The entire story is on the heart of Hulu’s present “Pam & Tommy” and Anderson’s new Netflix documentary “Pamela, a Love Story,” however there’s extra to it than what you see on TV.
The entire sex-tape scandal — probably the most notorious and earliest within the historical past of sex-tape scandals — actually rocked the superstar world again when it occurred within the ’90s. For all the main points on what went down, preserve studying.
What’s the True Story Behind Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee’s Sex Tape?
Anderson and Lee met in 1995 and fairly actually bought married a few week later, based on the Los Angeles Times. Their whirlwind romance made waves in Hollywood, because the Mötley Crüe drummer and the “Baywatch” actor weren’t shy about displaying their affection for each other.
While on their honeymoon on a ship in Lake Mead, the couple filmed almost an hour of personal footage, together with eight minutes of intercourse. They then tucked the footage away in a protected of their Malibu, CA, dwelling, the place they assumed it will keep till they determined to take it out. Unfortunately, they have been fallacious, because the footage would later be launched to the world with out their approval.
How Did Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee’s Sex Tape Get Out?
Anderson and Lee have been doing building on their dwelling in Malibu with a bunch of employed individuals. One of them, an electrician named Rand Gauthier, stole the protected containing the intercourse tape as a type of retaliation in opposition to the couple after getting fired. Gauthier additionally instructed Rolling Stone that Lee pulled a gun on him, which he stated “screwed” together with his head.
Gauthier stole the protected, believing all it contained was Lee’s weapons and Anderson’s jewellery, so the presence of their intercourse tape was a shock. He ultimately made copies of the video to buy round on the market.
Just a few months later, in early 1996, Lee and Anderson realized the tape was lacking and filed a police report, based on the Los Angeles Times. Soon after, they filed prices in opposition to Penthouse journal, which had gotten ahold of the tape and ran photos from it in print. The couple filed additional injunctions in opposition to anybody who had a duplicate of the intercourse tape, nevertheless it was too late, and nothing caught.
Rolling Stone reviews that it took two years for the video to go viral, ultimately raking in $77 million in simply 12 months after the virality took maintain. Though stolen, the tape was solidified as the primary of its variety.
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Did Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee Make Money Off Their Sex Tape?
After quite a few failed makes an attempt at suppressing the discharge of their intercourse tape in court docket, the couple determined to place the tape behind them, warily signing an settlement with Seth Warshavsky, a person who owned a streaming web site known as Club Love. It’s unknown how a lot the deal was for, however the couple hoped signing it will restrict the tape’s distribution, in order that they have been shocked when Warshavsky made a cope with Vivid Entertainment to distribute the tape to adult-video shops throughout the nation.
The tape is estimated to have generated over $77 million in income — not a penny of which Anderson or Lee ever noticed. In a 2015 “Watch What Happens Live” look, Anderson stated, “I made not one dollar. It was stolen property. We made a deal to stop all the shenanigans. I was seven months pregnant with Dylan and thinking it was affecting the pregnancy with the stress and said, ‘I’m not going to court anymore. I’m not being deposed anymore by these horny, weird lawyer men. I don’t want to talk about my vagina anymore or my public sex — anything.'”
How Much Money Did Rand Gauthier Make Off Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee’s Sex Tape?
If there’s any single silver lining on this state of affairs, it is that Gauthier by no means made a lot cash off of the tape. While he made some cash initially promoting VHS copies of the tape, the cash dried up when bootleggers stole the tape and circulated it with out his involvement. With no authorized declare to the tape, he was unable to sue the bootleggers, and it was unimaginable to make any cash off of it from then on.
Did Rand Gauthier Go to Jail For Stealing Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee’s Sex Tape?
Despite being the one to steal the tape from Anderson and Lee, Gauthier by no means truly went to jail. In truth, there was little punishment for the unfold of the intercourse tape. Rolling Stone reviews that the courts issued an injunction in 1997 in opposition to Milton Ingley, who had reportedly helped Gauthier store the tape round, nevertheless it was too late for a lot to be executed. The video had been shared in all places, and the harm was executed. Gauthier was by no means even punished for stealing the protected within the first place.
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