Netflix's Pamela Anderson documentary Pamela: A Love Story details the life of the former Playboy model and Baywatch star — touching on her childhood, her rise to fame, and her personal life that has led to numerous tabloid headlines over the years.
In the documentary, Anderson talks frankly about her relationships, including her famous marriage to Tommy Lee and later weddings to singer Kid Rock and poker player Rick Salomon, whom she married twice.
And while she doesn’t mention her 12-day marriage to producer Jon Peters in 2020, she does refer to a relationship that took place shortly before that with someone she describes as "a professional athlete".
Tabloid clips used in the documentary reveal that the athlete in question was a "French soccer star" whom Pamela alleged in a 2019 video crushed her hands to the point of cracking.
The athlete Pamela refers to is French footballer Adil Rami, whom Anderson began dating in 2017. At the time, Rami was 31 years old and Anderson was 49. The couple met at the Monaco Grand Prix and were together for two years. Pamela moved from Malibu to Marseille to live with him.
“He was very strong. And he was very jealous,” Pamela says in the documentary, without specifically naming Adil Rami.
Rami has strenuously denied all the allegations against him. In 2020, he spoke about the accusations.
"She wanted to crush me. She never filed a complaint because none of that ever happened," he said in an interview (via The Sun).
"I have videos and photos that can disprove what she said. It's over, and I no longer want to be related to her."
In an interview with the Daily Mail in early 2018 when the couple were together, Anderson talked about their relationship.
"He cares about me deeply," she said. "We have a very healthy, simple, wonderful life without all the bells and whistles. We both have our children to try to squeeze into the equation, but he is amazing. He is a good guy, a really good guy."
Anderson added: "He doesn’t speak very good English, I don’t speak very good French, but we have the body language, the language of love, another communication level that is deeper than words."
The actress was photographed supporting Rami and the French national team at the World Cup in 2018, but a year later announced on Instagram that their relationship was over. She accused him of cheating on her and hinted that he may have been abusive.
“It’s hard to accept,” Pamela wrote, as reported by The Independent in June 2019. “The last (more than) 2 years of my life have been a big lie. I was scammed, led to believe… we were in big love.
"I’m devastated to find out in the last few days that he was living a double life. He used to joke about other players who had girlfriends down the street in apartments close to their wives. He called those men monsters."
She continued: "But this is worse. He lied to all. How is it possible to control 2 women’s hearts and minds like this – I’m sure there were others. He is the monster. How could I have helped so many people @ndvhofficial and not be wise enough or able to help myself?”
Anderson tagged the National Domestic Violence Hotline’s official Instagram account in her post, and Rami soon issued a denial, as reported in The Sun. It reads:
“I wish to tell you that these accusations of violence are completely false and I can’t let them run. I hallucinate because it is so bad. Those who know me know who I am and what are my principles. They know that this is impossible and that I'm incapable of doing such things.
"If she wanted to hurt me, she chose very well. She knows that my commitment to the cause of violence against women is something very important for me. I respect the people at Solidarité Femmes [a domestic violence charity that Rami represented] that I have met, and their fight, too much. It is really disgusting.
"It's one thing to lie to keep a good relationship with her ex and her children, but lying about violence in order to hurt me, that's going too far and it's unjust. Once again, I won't allow these false accusations on me and my family to remain unanswered. All of this is too bad.
"There you are, I said what I had on the heart. I will leave it to the pros to deal with it now. For me, I'll look to the future. Adil."
Months after the couple's split, Pamela shared a video of her hand being treated in hospital, as mentioned in the documentary and reported by The Sun. The newspaper reported that Pamela wrote on her website (in a post that has since been removed): "When he crushed my hands especially my right one till they cracked. It took me 6 months to go to Dr."
Nearly four years later in her documentary Pamela: A Love Story, Anderson addresses the relationships she has had with men, but never mentions Adil Rami’s name.
"I'm attracted to these very hetero, masculine men," she says in the Netflix documentary. "Their initial attraction to me might be, 'oh she's the Playboy [model]' thing, or this kind of sexual thing, but I'm not the damsel in distress.
"I am very capable, and some men hate you for being something else, and then it can become violent."
If you've been affected by any of the issues raised in this story, organisations including Refuge (www.refuge.org.uk) and Women's Aid (www.womensaid.org.uk) can provide further support and information. The 24-hour, freephone National Domestic Abuse Helpline is 0808 2000 247. The US National Domestic Violence Hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), or text LOVEIS to 22522.
Freelance film & TV writer, Digital Spy
Critic and writer Jo Berry has been writing about TV and movies since she began her career at Time Out aged 18. A regular on BBC Radio, Jo has written for titles including Empire, Maxim, Radio Times, OK!, The Guardian and Grazia, is the author of books including Chick Flicks and The Parents’ Guide to Kids’ Movies.
She is also the editor of website Movies4Kids. In her career, Jo has interviewed well-known names including Beyonce, Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, Kiefer Sutherland, Tom Cruise and all the Avengers, spent many an hour crushed in the press areas of award show red carpets. Jo is also a self-proclaimed expert on Outlander and Brassic, and completely agrees that Die Hard is a Christmas movie.
