The new Hulu docudrama Pam and Tommy tells the story of Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee’s whirlwind relationship. They met, got married, and moved in together in the span of four days. Four years later, they got divorced. Not only is their relationship a cultural milestone, but they’re enormously important on their own. Pamela Anderson is one of the most loved and recognizable models of the 90s, and Tommy Lee is the notorious bad-boy drummer of Motley Crue. 

All the episodes released so far have handled the story with craftsmanship and respect. It doesn’t only depict Rand Gauthier as the villain of their story; they aren’t afraid to show Lee’s faults either. Fortunately, Lee is supportive of the docudrama. He’s even kept in touch with Sebastian Stan, the actor who plays him.

Unfortunately, Anderson doesn’t feel the same, and said she will “never, never watch,” Pam & Tommy.

Though Lee is involved, both members of the couple should’ve consented before this docudrama was made, especially due to the extremely sensitive subject. Lily James, who plays Anderson, tried to reach out to Anderson multiple times, but she never responded. Though Anderson was clearly against this project, the producers still went forward with finding different ways to get the rights to this story. 

“Producers began by optioning the rights to an article published by Rolling Stone in 2014,” wrote Sydney Bucksbaum.

After gaining the rights of this story through the article, they went forward with the project. 

In Bucksbaum’s article, everyone from the director, Craig Gillespie, to the showrunner, D.V. DeVincentis, is quick to say the show is on Anderson’s side. Despite Anderson’s unresponsiveness about the project, Gillespie still claims that the producers “absolutely respect the privacy” of Anderson.

 If they did truly respect Anderson, maybe they would have waited for her permission to continue with the show. This era of her life was traumatizing, and now Anderson has to relive it as the show is released. Any media depiction of this story should’ve been made with both parties’ permission. 

Perhaps in response to Pam & Tommy, Anderson announced her own documentary with Netflix on Mar. 3, she is “not a victim, but a survivor and alive to tell the real story” she said. 

Anderson is pursuing a pattern that many recent subjects of docudramas follow. House of Gucci was also made without the family’s permission, and they didn’t take this lightly. The heirs were extremely offended that the movie never consulted the family before portraying them as “thugs, ignorant and insensitive to the world around them.” As a result, the Gucci family is making their own drama and docuseries. In another instance, Rachel DeLoache Williams, a victim and former friend of Anna Delvey, decided to give her own story to HBO after Netflix’s Inventing Anna. 

I don’t doubt the sincere efforts of the film and series producers, but none of these docudramas should’ve been made without getting the direct permission of those depicted. All these films and series had extremely sensitive subjects; it should’ve been a no-brainer to consult those depicted first. Profiting off of someone’s life shouldn’t be done without their consent or involvement. Anderson, Delvey, and the Gucci family didn’t deserve to have their stories released in this way. 

Unfortunately, things like this will always happen, since public figures don’t really legally own the story to their own lives. 

“Barring libel or invasion of privacy, you have no recourse if you disagree with how you are being depicted on screen or in a book.” George Thomas Jr. said. “Public officials and public figures have the fewest privacy rights. Since they are in the public eye, their life story is viewed as something of an open book.”

If someone depicted wanted to pursue a lawsuit, they would have to prove they were maliciously libeled. They would have to somehow prove that the statements about them were false and those who published the statements knew they were false. Obviously this isn’t an option for Anderson. 

Imagine being a public figure and someone made a multi-million dollar movie about a private, embarrassing, or traumatizing event in your life. You wouldn’t be able to stop them; you wouldn’t be able to do anything. You could express your disappointment, but that most likely wouldn’t stop anyone from watching it. It shouldn’t be legal to make a film, series, or book, about someone’s life without their consent.

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