Pam & Tommy director Craig Gillespie has defended his decision to go ahead with the new drama without the approval of one of its subjects, Pamela Anderson.
The upcoming Disney+ series will debut on the streaming platform next week, telling the story of how Pamela and her then-husband Tommy Lee’s private sex tape was stolen and sold online without their consent.
However, the fact that the former Baywatch star was not involved at all in production has raised some eyebrows.
While Pamela has so far remained completely silent about the show, quotes from a “source” to Entertainment Tonight have suggested that she is finding the upcoming release of Pam & Tommy “very painful” and “shocking”.
In a new interview with Radio Times, Craig said: “I absolutely respect any personal decision that she makes on that, and understand where she’s coming from.
“The thing that gave me comfort was I felt like we really had an opportunity to change the narrative of this story, and to show it from a perspective that people can hopefully learn and grow from.
“And I felt that we portrayed them in a very empathetic way. I thought the writers did a really nice job with that. So I felt that there was that opportunity, which was the hope.”
Lily James, one of the leads in Pam & Tommy, recently admitted that her own personal attempts to contact Pamela Anderson about playing her went in vain.
“I was really hopeful that she would be involved,” she told Porter magazine. “I wish it had been different. My sole intention was to take care of the story and to play Pamela authentically.
“I was very hopeful that we would be in touch right up until we started filming.”
HuffPost UK previously contacted Pamela Anderson’s representatives about Lily James’ quotes, but did not receive a response.
The first three episodes of Pam & Tommy will arrive on Disney+ on 2 February, with new instalments following every Wednesday.
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