When Hulu released a mini-series showcasing Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee’s whirlwind romance, called Pam & Tommy, the bombshell actress’ sons were left furious over it.
It was then that the two boys encouraged their mother to share her journey on her own terms in the brand new Netflix documentary Pamela, A Love Story, which premiered on January 10.
Pamela and Tommy’s love story was certainly one fit for the screens – they married after only knowing each other for a few days, their relationship was plagued with numerous scandals including a leaked sex tape and accusations of abuse, and when they split after only a few years together, they became embroiled in a nasty custody battle over their two sons – Brandon Thomas Lee and Dylan Jagger Lee.
And Brandon and Dylan’s lives have been as much of a rollercoaster ride as their parents’ relationship was.
While Pamela, now 55, did her best to shelter them from the immense pressure that comes with being in the spotlight, being the sons of two of Hollywood’s most well-known stars made it difficult for them to lead normal lives.
Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee welcomed two sons during their whirlwind romance – Brandon Thomas Lee (seen in 1997) and Dylan Jagger Lee
FEMAIL has taken a look inside the intimate lives of Pamela and Tommy’s sons – including how they tried to refrain from the public eye as children just to pursue careers in the media
The boys have admitted to being exposed to drugs, alcohol, and sex ‘at a much younger age’ than other kids, which resulted in Brandon struggling with alcoholism for many years.
He even once got into a nasty feud with his famous rock star dad, which erupted after Tommy spoke ill of Pamela in an interview and saw Brandon punch his father in the face.
The fight quickly spilled onto social media – with the father-son-duo hurling nasty insults at one another and spilling each other’s deep, dark secrets in a series of scathing Instagram posts.
Despite both sharing their distain for the spotlight on numerous occasions, Dylan, 25, and Brandon, 26 – who is now sober and has since made up with his dad – have both become budding stars in their own rights.
Dylan is a successful model and aspiring musician, while Brandon has acted in a slew of movies and TV shows and was even featured in the reality series The Hills: New Beginnings – but they both have insisted that they ‘haven’t taken a dollar from their parents’ since high school, and that they had ‘worked their a**es off’ to get where they are now.
As the two boys continue to slam Hulu’s re-telling of their parents story, FEMAIL has taken a look inside the intimate lives of Pamela and Tommy’s sons – who the Baywatch star recently branded as ‘miracles, given their gene pool.’
From how they tried to refrain from the public eye as children just to pursue careers in the media once they got older to Brandon’s struggles with alcohol and ugly brawl with his father, here’s everything we know about the actress and Mötley Crüe drummer’s kids.
Growing up in the spotlight: Pamela tried to shelter her boys from the the public eye, which wasn’t easy since her and Tommy’s whirlwind romance and tumultuous divorce garnered so much media attention
Pamela and Tommy (seen at the wedding) wed on a beach in Mexico, in 1995 – after knowing each other for only four days. They were together for three years, before splitting in 1998
The couple went on to welcome two children together, Brandon Thomas Lee (seen in 1997) in 1996 and Dylan Jagger Lee in 1997, before they went their separate ways
Pamela was married six times throughout her decades-long career, but arguably her most talked about romance was with Tommy – whom she wed in 1995, after only knowing him for a mere few days.
The two met at a New Year’s Eve party, and instantly, they had a strong connection.
Thanks to their immensely famous parents, whose whirlwind romance and bitter split was highly publicized every step of the way, both Brandon and Dylan were the subject of media attention from an early age. They are seen in 2001
‘He came up, grabbed me and licked my face,’ Pamela once told Movieline of their first meeting. ‘I thought he was a cool, friendly, nice guy. I gave him my number.’
When Pamela headed off to Cancun for a photo shoot a few weeks later, Tommy showed up and surprised her – marking their second time ever meeting.
After spending four days partying together, the two tied the knot on the beach in Mexico.
The couple went on to welcome two children together, Brandon in 1996 and Dylan in 1997, before they went their separate ways in 1998 – and their three-year marriage was plagued with scandal, including a leaked sex tape and accusations of domestic abuse.
And when they divorced, things didn’t end well for the pairing. The two soon became embroiled in a nasty custody battle over their sons – which finally came to an end in 2002, after a judge granted them joint custody.
Thanks to their immensely famous parents, whose whirlwind romance and bitter split was highly publicized every step of the way, both Brandon and Dylan were the subject of media attention from an early age.
Paparazzi would follow the family around, hoping to get a glimpse of the boys, but according to Brandon, his mother did her best to shelter him and his brother from the spotlight by making them feel normal.
According to Brandon, his mother did her best to shelter him and his brother from the spotlight by making them feel normal. He is seen with Pamela in 1997
Despite Pamela’s best efforts to give her boys a typical childhood, they said growing up in Los Angeles resulted in them being exposed to things at an earlier age. They family is seen in 2003
‘The normal thing to do as a parent is, of course, to make your kids feel like everything is normal and fine,’ he told Interview magazine in 2019.
‘I remember one day asking my mom, “Hey, why does everybody take photos of us?” And she said, “Oh, they do that to everybody.”
‘Then, I remember being with one of my friends’ families when I was, like, 10, and we walked into dinner somewhere, and I said to them, “Hey, why does nobody take photos of you guys?”’
Pamela also spoke about her attempts to ‘protect’ her boys while chatting with Interview recently, explaining: ‘I was very, very protective without having them feel like they were being overprotected.
‘We didn’t have nannies, I didn’t have babysitters, I only trusted my family around my kids.’
Pamela spoke out about a time that a deranged fan tried to ‘take Dylan’ from the playground, which left her terrified for her sons’ safety.
‘At their elementary school I even hired somebody that was an assistant coach who was really security because I needed to know that they were OK,’ she continued.
‘Because one time someone tried to take Dylan off the playground. I stopped him and I took Dylan and I looked at this guy.
‘He had been living in the bushes close to the school and he had a whole encampment made of pictures of me.
‘He had People magazine in his hand and he was looking for my son because he had seen a picture of him.
‘I didn’t grow up in a public family so I had to learn quickly how to keep them safe without them feeling like they were any different than anybody else.’
Despite Pamela’s best efforts to give her boys a typical childhood, growing up in Los Angeles resulted in them being exposed to things at an earlier age.
‘Life just happens at such an accelerated pace [in LA],’ Brandon explained. ‘Everything around you is happening faster.
‘People are losing their virginity five years younger than everywhere else in America. People are getting involved in drugs at a much younger age.
‘When kids in LA are 18 or 19, they’re like a bunch of 40-year-olds who have already seen everything. It’s almost like they’re war veterans.’
Launching their careers: Both Brandon and Dylan followed in their famous parents footsteps – but they insisted they were given no financial help from Pamela or Tommy
As they got older, the brothers told the publication that living in LA began to feel like a ‘dog-eat-dog world,’ and that they started to feel pressure to follow in their parents footsteps
Dylan is now a successful model, and has walked on the runway for numerous big brands over the years, including Saint Laurent, Dolce & Gabbana, Armani Exchange, and Coach
He’s also in a band, called Motel 7, but he told Interview magazine that he never planned to get into music like his father. He said: ‘I didn’t want to make music. But then I fell in love with it’
As they got older, the brothers told the publication that living in LA began to feel like a ‘dog-eat-dog world,’ and that they started to feel immense pressure to follow in their famous parents footsteps.
‘A lot of people think it’s, like, be an actor, be a musician, be a model, or you’re nothing,’ Dylan said.
In their teen years, Pamela decided to send them away to a boarding school in Vancouver, Canada, in an attempt to counter those feelings – something they said really opened their eyes to the negative parts of Hollywood.
‘We came back to see our friends in completely different situations than when we left them,’ Dylan recalled. ‘LA can be amazing, but it can also be the worst.’
Pamela explained to Interview that she sent them to Canada to try get them ‘some reality,’ while calling it the ‘best thing they ever did.’
‘I knew they needed some good Canadian roots. They needed to get out of the Malibu Colony and get some reality, and it was the best thing that we ever did,’ she stated.
He is signed by EWG Management, and has posed for magazines like GQ Russia, Nylon, Vogue, W, and Wonderland
‘Even though it was very difficult at the time, they agree now and they’ve said that they’ll send their kids to the same schools.
‘It gave them independence, it showed them this hierarchy between boys and men and good examples and consistency.
‘That was another reason why I sent them here, for safety reasons, but also to get something that I couldn’t supply them with.’
Pamela added that she worried they were becoming ‘unhealthily attached’ to her since they were ‘so close.’
‘As a single mom, we were so close and I was here a lot. There’s something about a boy at 13 years old with a mother. There has to be some kind of detachment, as hard as it was on both of them,’ she added.
‘I just felt like, yes, we do get unhealthy attachments to our parents. We’ve got to get out of the way sometimes and we’ve got to have enough faith in that child to start making their own way.’
Even so, both Dylan and Brandon have since become budding stars in their own rights – Dylan is a successful model and aspiring musician, while Brandon has acted in a slew of movies and TV shows and was even featured in the reality series The Hills: New Beginnings.
Dylan has walked on the runway for numerous big brands over the years, including Saint Laurent, Dolce & Gabbana, Armani Exchange, Hugo Boss, and Coach.
He is signed by EWG Management, and has posed for magazines like GQ Russia, Nylon, Vogue, W, and Wonderland.
As for Brandon, he admitted that he too didn’t want to enter the spotlight, however he said he ultimately decided to pursue a career as an actor
He said he wanted to ‘show people what he’s truly like’ and clear up ‘misconceptions about the way they were raised’
Brandon (left) insisted that both he and Dylan (right) ‘haven’t taken a dollar from their parents’ since high school, and that they had ‘worked their a**es off’ to get where they are now’
Brandon’s acting credits include the movies Inherent Greed, Sierra Burgess Is a Loser, and Cosmic Sin. He is seen with his mom in 2019
Brandon was also featured in the reality series The Hills: New Beginnings (seen)
He’s also in a band, called Motel 7, but he told Interview that he never planned to get into music like his father.
‘I used to hate music back in the day,’ he admitted. ‘I didn’t want to make music. I didn’t want to be an actor. I didn’t want to do anything. Then I fell in love with it.’
He also launched his own clothing line, called Swingers Club, which sells preppy golf wear
As for Brandon, he admitted that he too didn’t want to enter the spotlight, however he said he ultimately decided to pursue a career in the limelight to ‘show people what he’s truly like’ and clear up ‘misconceptions about the way they were raised.’
He insisted that both he and Dylan ‘haven’t taken a dollar from their parents’ since high school, and that they had ‘worked their a**es off’ to get where they are now.’
‘I’ve had a pretty crazy life, and I spent the majority of it hiding from the spotlight, trying to be a normal kid. I used to resent all of this,’ he revealed.
‘But I’ve come to a point in my life where I want to show people what I’m truly like. There are a lot of misconceptions about the way we were raised – that we’re spoiled, or that we were given everything.
‘But our friends can back this up: Dylan and I haven’t taken a dollar from our parents since we were in high school.
When it comes to their love lives, Brandon was previously in relationships with Daniella Beckerman, Bella Thorne, and Kathryn Newton. He is now dating model Lily Easton (seen)
As for Dylan, he is currently in a relationship with an architectural designer named Paula Bruss
‘We’ve been working our a**es off to buy a house, buy a car, and pay for music equipment and acting lessons. It feels better to do it ourselves.’
Brandon’s acting credits include the movies Inherent Greed, Sierra Burgess Is a Loser, and Cosmic Sin.
He also launched his own clothing line, called Swingers Club, which sells preppy golf wear.
‘Golf is a huge part of my life and so is fashion,’ he said on Instagram, while describing his company.
‘Up until this point, it’s been a dream of mine to create a brand that reflects my sense of style combined with a lifestyle I love and enjoy. I can’t wait to show you what’s coming next.’
When it comes to their love lives, Brandon was previously in a relationship with model Daniella Beckerman, who he appeared in The Hills with, and he was also briefly linked to Bella Thorne and Kathryn Newton. He is now dating model Lily Easton.
As for Dylan, he is currently in a relationship with an architectural designer named Paula Bruss.
Family drama: Brandon and Tommy once got into a fierce feud, which resulted in Brandon knocking his father out and the rocker sharing intimate details about his son’s alcoholism online
In March 2018, Brandon got into an explosive social media feud with his father, Tommy, after the rocker accused his son of ‘assaulting him.’ Brandon, Dylan, and Tommy are seen last year
‘My heart is broken. You can give your kids everything they could ever want and they can still turn against you. Good job Brandon,’ he captioned a photo of himself with a fat lip to Instagram
He claimed on Twitter that he was ‘in bed’ when Brandon, who was 21 at the time, ‘busted into the room and assaulted him’
In March 2018, Brandon got into an explosive social media feud with his father, Tommy, after the rocker accused his son of ‘assaulting him,’ while sharing a photo of himself with a fat lip to Instagram.
‘My heart is broken. You can give your kids everything they could ever want in their entire lives and they can still turn against you. Good job Brandon. Great son,’ he wrote in the now-deleted post.
He claimed on Twitter that he was ‘in bed’ when Brandon, who was 21 at the time, ‘busted into the room and assaulted him.’
‘I asked him to leave the house and he knocked me unconscious. He ran away from the police. THAT’S the truth,’ he added.
According to reports, Brandon sucker punched his father, knocking him unconscious, after they got into a fight over Tommy making negative statements about Pamela in an interview.
The drummer initially pressed charges against Brandon for the altercation, but it was reported that the case was ultimately dropped after Tommy didn’t cooperate with investigators.
Soon after, a long and nasty online fight ensued – with the two going back and forth sharing angry messages to one another on their Instagram accounts.
According to reports, Brandon (seen with Tommy and Dylan last year) sucker punched his father, knocking him unconscious
Soon after, a long and nasty online fight ensued – with the two going back and forth sharing angry messages to one another on their Instagram accounts. They are seen last year
Tommy claimed in one post that he had spent $130,000 for his son to go to rehab, while laying bare Brandon’s struggles with alcoholism
Brandon responded by calling his dad’s contributions to his treatment as the ‘best thing that he had ever done for him,’ adding, ‘Today I am almost two years sober’
‘My father taught me to respect everyone and everything and to take care of those that I loved. He taught me to appreciate my possessions, and to be grateful for the things I was given,’ Tommy wrote on Father’s Day in 2018.
‘When I had a child, my first child, I wanted to instill those same virtues into him. Sometimes I feel like I failed as a father, because my kids don’t know the value of things.
‘If they hurt someone, they don’t care because so many people tell them it’s OK. I never wanted this for my kids.
‘I know I’m not fully to blame, because their mom has a lot to do with it, enabling bad behavior and buying them things when they weren’t good, but I guess I hoped at the end of the day they would end up kind.
‘I love them dearly, don’t get me wrong, but man, sometimes it’s really tough to watch your kids grow up without those morals.
‘Nothing can really prepare you for fatherhood … I love my boys but they can be a**holes too… and that’s the truth.’
Brandon responded in a scathing post of his own, telling Tommy, ‘You gotta show up to be a dad, big guy. If you think we’re so bad (which I can assure you we are not) then you should have showed up to a few more birthdays and baseball games.
‘Someone like you couldn’t raise a man like me. Once again, painting our family in a negative light.
‘Who the f**k are you? Just move on dude… WE ALL HAVE. Or I’ll put you right back to f**kin sleep.’
By December 2018, it seemed as though the two had made up because Tommy posted a photo of himself and Brandon embracing, which he captioned, ‘I love you son’
Brandon claimed that Tommy had ‘not even been around enough to know what kind of a person he was’ and begged his father to ‘drop it’ and ‘move on.’
Tommy then claimed that he had spent $130,000 for his son to go to rehab, while laying bare Brandon’s struggles with alcoholism.
He wrote, ‘Rehab for son: $130,000. Party for son’s 21st birthday last year: $40,000. Medical Bills after son knocks his father unconscious and uses “alcoholism” as scapegoat: $10,000. Son acting like a victim on social media on father’s day: Priceless.’
Brandon responded one last time by calling his dad’s contributions to his treatment as the ‘best thing that he had ever done for him,’ adding, ‘Today I am almost two years sober.
‘Every day that goes by, I feel ever more grateful. My clear mind has allowed me to do a lot with this time.’
By December 2018, it seemed as though the two had made up because Tommy posted a photo of himself and Brandon embracing, which he captioned, ‘I love you son.’
While chatting with Interview magazine in 2019, Brandon spoke about his past struggles further, admitting, ‘Three years ago, I was in one of the darkest spots of my entire life.
The boys are both very close with their mother, and Brandon even served as the producer on her Netflix documentary, Pamela, A Love Story. They are seen with her at the premiere
Pamela (seen with Brandon in 2022) later told People that it was actually her sons who inspired her to finally ‘share her story’ in the doc
‘I didn’t want to leave my apartment. I couldn’t do anything. Ever since I got sober, I just feel like everything’s gotten better for me.
‘I’ve become a better actor. I’ve become a better worker. I’ve become a better person.’
He said that getting sober was the ‘best thing that’s ever happened to him,’ and that he’s now focused on his career.
‘I’m not gonna lie, in LA, it’s really f**king hard to avoid temptation. Girls. Money. This and that. But my career has become so important to me that partying isn’t worth it anymore,’ he said.
The boys are both very close with their mother, and Brandon even served as the producer on her Netflix documentary, Pamela, A Love Story.
The star later told People that it was actually her sons who inspired her to finally ‘share her story’ in the doc.
Dylan and Brandon were heavily featured in the documentary, and they even shared their distaste for the 2022 Hulu miniseries Pam & Tommy.
‘Why bring something up from 20 years ago that you know f**ked someone up?’ Dylan asked, referring to Pamela and Tommy’s tumultuous relationship.
‘[It was the] worst part of her life and making a semi-comedy out of it didn’t make sense.’
In her new memoir, Love, Pamela, she also referred to them as ‘miracles’ considering ‘their gene pool.’
‘They saved me,’ she wrote of Brandon and Dylan in the book. ‘I don’t want to put that on my kids but having children changed everything. I’ve loved every moment.’
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