Rand Guthier’s theft of their private tape — and the subsequent drama. As the still-budding Internet feasts on the world-famous celebrities’ intimate activities, Anderson and Lee’s reputations are further tarnished by the involvement of Bob Guccione (Maxwell Caulfield).
Titled “Uncle Jim and Aunt Susie In Duluth,” Pam & Tommy episode 5 deals with the consequences of the couple’s heavily publicized dilemma. Tommy gets into a brawl after meeting strangers who have watched and enjoyed the tape, leading to further and more damaging press coverage. Although Anderson and Lee grapple with the scandal’s aftermath individually, they are not entirely aware of how grave the situation is. Matters take a turn for the worse, unfortunately, when a copy of the private tape — which heavily impacted Pamela Anderson’s career — falls into the hands of a wealthy photographer and publisher.
Bob Guccione was the creator of the adult magazine Penthouse. Although initially founded as a major competitor to Hugh Hefner’s Playboy magazine, Penthouse featured more explicit images and in-depth lifestyle and social articles. Through Guccione’s leadership, the publication offered editorial content that also aimed to educate its audience. Additionally, over the years, the magazine pushed the limits of printed pornography. As a result, Guccione owning a copy of Anderson and Lee’s tape meant huge problems, especially for the Baywatch actress, since she was also the face of Playboy.
The illegal distribution of their honeymoon tape marked a significant part of Pam and Tommy’s relationship. So, when the couple learned that Penthouse intended to publish images from the video, Lee urged his wife to attend a meeting with their lawyers. Anderson initially refused the lawyers’ offer to sue the magazine for invasion of privacy for fear that it would backfire. Since her plan was to just wait for their scandal to fizzle out, she pointed out that suing Guccione would only aggravate him into publishing her pictures. Nevertheless, she was not heard, and a $10 million lawsuit was filed against Guccione. Unsurprisingly, Penthouse, through Guccione, retaliated and published sexually explicit stills from the tape, moving from softcore to hardcore pornography and drawing more attention to the already controversial marriage.
Despite the boost in sales brought by Pam and Tommy’s story and sex tape photos, Penthouse began to see a decline in numbers in the late 1990s. The accessibility of free online pornography rendered the magazine redundant, and in the next decade, Penthouse accumulated financial troubles after numerous failed investments. In 2003, the parent company of the magazine, General Media, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and immediately put up Penthouse for sale as part of a deal with its creditors. Not long after, Guccione stepped down as the chairman and CEO of Penthouse International, Inc and, after being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, he died in 2010. Guccione will likely always be ed most notably for bringing the intimate moments of Pam & Tommy further into the public eye.
Pam & Tommy releases new episodes of the limited series every Wednesday on Hulu.