Because Pamela Anderson became one of the most popular sex symbols three decades ago, it’s easy to forget that her first break into Hollywood was being Tim Allen’s tool girl onHome Improvement. Based on her upcoming memoir, it appears that it wasn’t always a healthy workplace between Anderson and Allen.
In her upcoming memoir, Anderson alleges that Allen briefly exposed himself to her on their first day of filmingHome Improvementtogether with the rationale that because he had seen her naked, showing himself in his birthday suit evened the odds. It was a moment that understandably made Anderson uncomfortable.
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In an excerpt from her upcoming memoir “Love Pamela,” which had been obtained byVariety, Anderson alleged that Allen exposed himself to her because he had previously seen her naked. “On the first day of filming, I walked out of my dressing room, and Tim was in the hallway in his robe. He opened his robe and flashed me quickly — completely naked underneath. He said it was only fair because he had seen me naked.Now we’re even.I laughed uncomfortably,” Anderson said. Allen sent an official statement to Variety denying her allegations. “No, it never happened. I would never do such a thing,” Allen said.
Anderson first posed naked for Playboy in 1989 and again in 1991, andHome Improvementdidn’t start until the latter year, so that may have been what Allen was referring to when he allegedly exposed himself. Whether he did or didn’t do this, Allen had a checkered past both before and after his big break onHome Improvement. Allen was arrested in 1978 for possession of cocaine along with drug trafficking charges. He was then arrested in 1998 for DUI. Since then, Allen has managed to keep his nose clean, and until now, there have not been any allegations of misconduct with female actors who he has previously worked with.
If what Anderson alleges is true, that is reprehensible on Allen’s part. There is no justifiable reason for a man to expose himself to a female co-worker in a work environment. While Anderson became arguably the most iconic sex symbol of the 1990s, being a sex symbol doesn’t suddenly give any man the right to traumatize a woman like that by exposing himself. Anderson may have been known for flaunting her sexuality, but, at the same time, she was someone that was simply doing their job. Regardless of whether audiences approve of what line of work she did, that will never justify any inappropriate conduct.
Also, if Allen did this, then it is another example of the pains and struggles that Anderson had to deal with in the entertainment industry. The biopic series about Anderson,Hulu’sPam and Tommy, delved into the turmoil that she went through as an actor and a sex symbol, especially when her sex tape was released, which had nothing to do with her. She was endlessly objectified and slut-shamed for her work when all she wanted more than anything was to be an actress. No man or woman should have to deal with that kind of trauma for having a dream.
Home Improvementcan currently be streamed on Hulu
