Pamela Anderson was given ‘about ten years to live’ when she was diagnosed with hepatitis C in the late 1990s, the emotional actress has revealed.
The Baywatch star, now 59, first publicly announced her diagnosis in 2002, claiming she contracted the liver-damaging disease by sharing a tattoo needle with ex-husband Tommy Lee.
Hepatitis C is a viral infection that causes liver inflammation, sometimes leading to severe liver damage. Today, chronic hepatitis C can usually be cured with oral medications taken every day for eight to twelve weeks.
Speaking at the amfAR Gala in Venice on Sunday, per Varietythe star said: ‘It was a death sentence. That’s what my doctor told me: that I probably had about ten years to live.
‘I am sure this has colored and corrupted my decisions. It wasn’t fear of death, but fear of what might happen to my young children. It has turned my life inside out.’
Anderson and Lee share sons Brandon, now 30, and Dylan, now 28.
Pamela Anderson was given ‘about ten years to live’ when diagnosed with hepatitis C in the late 1990s, the emotional actress has revealed – pictured in September 2026
The Baywatch star, now 58, first publicly announced her diagnosis in 2002, claiming she contracted the liver-damaging disease by sharing a tattoo needle with ex-husband Tommy Lee. She is pictured in 1999 around the time she contracted the infection.
A cure for the infection was discovered in 2011 and by 2015 Anderson was ‘hep C free’, albeit at a financial cost.
She admitted: ‘It took everything I had in my bank [to pay for treatment ].’
The star, who was honored with amfAR’s Award of Courage at the event, is still “haunted” by the “shame and guilt” she felt about contracting hepatitis C.
She continues: ‘But my experience of shame and guilt was also an unconscious journey. It stays with me; it haunts me
“And just like the sexual abuse I experienced as a child, it felt like it was carved into my forehead: damaged goods. And I presented myself as such.
“My truth has come through my work, through finding ways to express myself through art. It gave me the ammunition I needed, a fruitful life to use and play in.
‘I am not a victim, I am a victor. I am strong and capable, more than I could ever imagine… I am not the damsel in distress, as easy as that role is to play.
In 2015, Anderson announced her healing, telling ET, “They called me and said there was a cure, and you know, Tommy did it first, so he was healed first.”
The star is pictured with Lee in 1995
Speaking at the amfAR Gala in Venice on Sunday, the star said, according to Variety: ‘It was a death sentence. That’s what my doctor told me – that I probably had about ten years to live” – pictured with Lee in 1999
“He got a different kind of treatment because he did it a year before me. And he always pushed me: ‘You have to do this, you have to do this.’
The self-styled actress, who claims she contracted the disease after sharing a contaminated tattoo needle with the Wildman Girls, Girls, Girls rocker, also said she had an unusual form of the condition that doctors at the time of her diagnosis said would lead to her death within a decade.
Pamela said: ‘Twenty years ago when they told me I had Hep C, they told me I would only live for ten years.
“During the 20 years, about 10 years later, they said you could live with this disease all your life and you might not die from it.
‘You are more likely to die from something else, but you can also get liver cancer. You could get all these horrible other things.”
Pamela hopes that people affected can follow similar treatment and get better.
She said: ‘There are many different types of Hep C. I had a rarer variant, the same as Tommy. Our type I took two pills a day for three months.
‘But if you had type one, for example, you only took one pill a day and you might only have to take it for eight weeks.
“I took mine for 12 weeks, so mine was a little harder to heal, but it still worked.”
