Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson: A Timeline of Their Rocky Romance

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Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson: A Timeline of Their Rocky Romance

Talk about a whirlwind! Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson tied the knot after being together for just four days — and their relationship was anything but a breeze. The twosome met in December 1994 and took a vacation to Cancún six weeks later. Only 96 hours into their getaway, they got married, but their carefree romance quickly soured when they returned to California. In 1995, Rand Gauthier, a scorned electrician who was fired from a job at the Mötley Crüe artist’s home, stole a sex tape that the couple made while staying on a houseboat at Lake Mead. While the footage wasn’t able to spread around the internet like it would have today, copies were available for purchase — and viewed by thousands. Anderson and Lee filed a $10 million lawsuit to attempt to prevent the tape from being published, but the suit was eventually dropped. Two decades after its release, the Baywatch star admitted she’d “never seen” the tape. “I made not one dollar. It was stolen property. We made a deal to stop all the shenanigans,” she said during a 2015 appearance on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen. Five years later, she clarified during another conversation with Andy Cohen that it wasn’t a sex tape, but was instead “a compilation of vacations that we were naked on.” Before they called it quits in 1998, the former couple welcomed sons Brandon and Dylan. The drama surrounding their infamous video put a strain on their relationship. “Not being able to do anything … about [the tape] was adding so much frustration and stress to our relationship,” Lee said during a 2014 episode of 20/20. “It was just consuming us.” [jwplayer LHSHk7JD-l3ahXupL] Tensions quickly escalated between the pair, and in 1998, the rocker was arrested after an altercation with his then-wife. He was sentenced to six months in prison after pleading no contest to felony spousal battery. “I couldn't understand why Pamela had followed through with pressing charges," Lee wrote in his band’s 2001 memoir, The Dirt. "She was probably scared and thought I was some crazy, violent monster; she probably thought she was doing the right thing for the kids; and she probably wanted an easy way out of a difficult situation. As much as I loved Pamela, she had a problem dealing with things.” In 2008, the duo decided to give their romance its “801[st]” try, with the “Sunday” artist telling Rolling Stone that Anderson and their sons had moved back in with him. However, the reunion was short-lived, and the twosome split for good in 2010. Anderson was also married to Kid Rock from 2006 to 2007, and to Rick Salomon from 2007 to 2008 (and again from 2014 to 2015). She fell into a whirlwind romance with Jon Peters in 2020, and although there were rumors of a marriage, Us Weekly reported in February 2020 that they never obtained a marriage license. She wed Dan Hayhurst in December 2020. Lee, for his part, was married to Elaine Starchuk from 1984 to 1985 and Heather Locklear from 1986 to 1993. In 2019, he wed Brittany Furlan. Scroll down to relive Anderson and Lee’s tumultuous relationship:

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1994

The duo crossed paths and shared a drink at Sanctuary, a Hollywood club, on New Year’s Eve.

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1995

Six weeks after they were introduced, the pair went on their first date: a trip to Cancún. Four days into the getaway, they got married, tattooing each other’s names on their ring fingers. 

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1995

Anderson moved into Lee’s home, which was being renovated, when they returned from Mexico. After being fired from the job, an electrician swiped a sex tape of the couple, later making copies of the tape and destroying the original.

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1996

Brandon Thomas, the pair’s first child, was born in June 1996.

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1997

Just 18 months later, they welcomed son Dylan Jagger.

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1998

After a heated fight at their home, Lee was arrested and Anderson filed for divorce. The musician pleaded no contest to felony spousal battery and was sentenced to six months in jail, which would become three years if he violated his probation. He was also ordered to attend counseling, finish 200 hours of community service and donate money to anti-domestic violence resources.

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2001

When Lee was released from jail, the duo briefly reunited, but eventually called it quits.

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2008

Lee told Rolling Stone that he and Anderson were giving their relationship another shot. “Pamela and the kids have moved in with me," he said. "It's awesome, man. It's definitely working. You can tell on the kids' faces — they're happy when we're together.”

The reunion didn’t last long, with the couple parting ways again in 2010.

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2015

While millions of people have viewed her infamous sex tape, Anderson revealed that she’d “never seen it” during a September 2015 episode of Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen. “I made not one dollar. It was stolen property,” she said. “We made a deal to stop all the shenanigans.” 

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2020

Deadline confirmed in December 2020 that a series based on the leaked tape — starring Lily James and Sebastian Stan — was in the works at Hulu.

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2021

Pamela and her ex celebrated son Brandon Thomas Lee's Local Authority: Swinger's Club fashion collaboration in Los Angeles in November 2021. 

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2022

Ahead of the release of Pam & Tommy, an insider told Us that Anderson "won't be watching" the Hulu series. “She had no involvement whatsoever” in the making of the show, the source added. 

James, who plays the Barb Wire star, claimed she tried to contact Anderson "right up until we started filming," to no avail. "I was really hopeful that she would be involved. I wish it had been different,” the Cinderella actress told Net-a-Porter’s Porter on January 10. “My sole intention was to take care of the story and to play Pamela authentically.”

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2023

Anderson opened up about her marriage to Lee in her Netflix documentary, Pamela, A Love Story, and her memoir Love, Pamela. "The divorce from Tommy was the hardest, lowest, most difficult point of my life," she wrote in the book, explaining that she decided to end their marriage after Lee's 1998 arrest for domestic violence. "I was crushed. I still couldn't believe that the person I loved the most was capable of what had happened that night. We were both devastated, but I had to protect my babies."

Despite their breakup, however, Anderson said she and her ex-husband still "check in" with each other every so often. "Tommy is the father of my kids and I'm forever grateful," she continued. “My relationship with Tommy may have been the only time I was ever in love.”