Pamela Anderson recalls doctors giving her 10 years to live following hepatitis C diagnosis
Pamela Anderson recalls doctors giving her 10 years to live following hepatitis C diagnosis
Raechal ShewfeltTue, September 8, 2026 at 12:58 AM UTC
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Pamela Anderson at the amfAR Gala Venezia on Sept. 6 in Venice, ItalyCredit: Victor Boyko/amfAR/GettyKey Points -
Pamela Anderson received a award for courage at Sunday’s amfAR Gala in Venice.
The Baywatch alum recalled that, when she diagnosed, the news was “a death sentence.”
Anderson said she’s still affected by the health scare.
Pamela Anderson remembers the hepatitis C diagnosis she received in 2002 was chilling.
“It was a death sentence at the time,” the Baywatch star said Sunday during the Venice Film Festival at the amfAR Gala Venezia, where she was recognized with the organization’s Award of Courage. “That’s what my doctor told me — that I probably had around 10 years to live.”
She continued, “I’m sure that colored and corrupted my decisions. It was not fear of death, but fear of what might happen to my young children. It turned my life inside out.”
But the mother of sons Brandon, now 30, and Dylan, 28, whom she shares with rocker Tommy Lee, and the millions of others with the viral infection were provided relief, even a cure, in the past decade or so — if they could obtain it.
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The Naked Gun actress was “free” of hepatitis C by 2015, though she said it it “took everything I had in my bank.”
Anderson said she hasn’t fully recovered and she continues to deal with the aftermath of her medical scare.
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“But my experience of shame and guilt was also an unconscious journey. It stays with me; it haunts me,” Anderson said. “And just like the sexual abuse that I endured as a child, it felt like it was carved into my forehead: Damaged goods. And I presented myself as such.”
Following her health scare, Anderson won rave reviews and a Best Actress nomination at the 2025 Golden Globes for her turn in The Last Showgirl.
Pamela Anderson with sons Brandon and Jagger at ‘The Naked Gun’ premiere in 2025 in New York CityCredit: Jason Mendez/Getty
She noted at the film fest that she refuses to be a victim.
“My truth has come through my work, finding ways to express myself through the arts,” Anderson said. “It gave me the ammunition I needed, a fertile life to use and play in. I’m not a victim, I’m a victor. I am strong and capable, more now than I could ever dream of … I’m not the damsel in distress, no matter how easy that role is to play.”
She said from the stage that “courage expands one’s life, while fear diminishes it.”
Anderson has kept working on a new projects, including a TV series based on her 1996 movie Barb Wire. She and her sons are set to produce.
on Entertainment Weekly
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
