[6] In 1995, personal home videos of Anderson with her then-husband Tommy Lee were stolen and sold as a sex tape, which resulted in a legal fight and made her the subject of controversy.

Anderson saw a career resurgence in the 2020s after her 2022 Broadway debut portraying Roxie Hart in the long-running musical Chicago, the 2023 Netflix documentary Pamela, a Love Story (which coincided with the release of her autobiography, Love, Pamela), and the 2024 indie-drama film The Last Showgirl, the latter of which earned her nominations for the Golden Globe Award and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actress.

[10] Her great-grandfather, Juho Hyytiäinen, was a Finnish native of Saarijärvi, and left the Grand Duchy of Finland (which was an autonomous state within the Russian Empire at the time)[11] for Canada in 1908.

[13][14][15] Anderson received press coverage right after her birth as a "Centennial Baby", having been born on July 1, 1967, the 100th anniversary of Canada's official founding via the Constitution Act, 1867.

[23] Sam Newman House, a pop architecture building constructed in 2001 in St Kilda, Victoria, Australia, has a large image of Anderson's face.

In 2005, Anderson starred in a new Fox comedy series Stacked as Skyler Dayton, a party girl who works at a book store.

In December 2005, NBC cut a video of Anderson pole dancing to Elton John's "The Red Piano", saying that the footage was inappropriate for prime time.

[35] She also appeared in the 2006 mockumentary Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, in which the title character becomes obsessed with her and plans to abduct and marry her.

[40] In 2010, she appeared in the short film The Commuter directed by the McHenry Brothers and shot entirely on the Nokia N8 smartphone as promotion for the phone in the UK.

[51] In 2013, Anderson appeared on the eighth series of the British reality TV show Dancing on Ice, partnered with former winner Matt Evers.

[56] A few months later in 2023, Netflix released a documentary directed by Ryan White on her life from childhood to the 2022 appearance in Chicago, called Pamela, a Love Story.

[59] After watching Pamela, a Love Story, Gia Coppola wanted to cast Anderson as Shelly in her drama film The Last Showgirl.

[61][62] Anderson accepted the role and was officially cast in February 2024, starring alongside Jamie Lee Curtis, Dave Bautista, Brenda Song, Kiernan Shipka and Billie Lourd.

"[66] David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter said Anderson's "transformative performance is undeniably affecting, offering illuminating insights into both the character and the actress playing her, who has had to struggle to be taken seriously.

Anderson retorted, "In a city that is known for its exotic dancing and for being progressive and edgy, how sad that a woman would be banned from using her own body in a political protest over the suffering of cows and chickens.

In 2016, she co-authored a viral opinion article in The Wall Street Journal with Orthodox rabbi Shmuley Boteach, in which they called online pornography a "public hazard of unprecedented seriousness.

"[83][84][85][86] The two called for a "sensual revolution" to replace "pornography with eroticism, the alloying of sex with love, of physicality with personality, of the body's mechanics with imagination, of orgasmic release with binding relationships.

[87] Boteach observed: "It can be intimidating to talk about pornography and eroticism alongside an international sex symbol, but I think Pamela has handled it extremely well.

"[88] The two also wrote a book together, Lust for Love (2018), about how meaningful, passionate sex has been declining, and called for a new sensual revolution that emphasizes partners connecting in the bedroom.

She stated that he had done everyone "a great service" and that "[e]veryone in the world has benefited because of WikiLeaks," while decrying how "elaborate plots against him and made up sexual allegations could result in him being extradited to the US – where he would not be treated fairly – because of his exposure of truths.

"[92] In October 2019, Anderson announced she would be travelling to Australia in November 2019 to challenge Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison to stand up for Assange.

In the text of a speech she had intended to give at Parliament House, Canberra, Anderson said that Assange was suffering "psychological torture" in jail and that "every moment he is in there, he is in danger".

[93][94][95] On January 18, 2021, Anderson spoke on the Fox News show Tucker Carlson Tonight, asking President Donald Trump to pardon Assange.

[98] In November 2016, Anderson starred in a video public service announcement[99] produced by the National Limousine Association and the National Sexual Violence Resource Center as part of the Ride Responsibly initiative, titled The Driving Game, which aimed to shed light on the lack of universal driver regulations in the private ground transportation industry.

[100] Anderson once again starred in a video public service announcement[101] produced by the National Limousine Association in January 2018, this time in partnership with Promoting Awareness | Victim Empowerment (PAVE), as part of the Ride Responsibly initiative.

[124][125] After moving to California in 1989, Anderson felt that it was important to become an American citizen in order to vote and one day petition to bring her parents to the U.S. and care for them when they were older.

[136] In March 2002, Anderson publicly stated that she had contracted hepatitis C by sharing tattoo needles with Lee, and began writing a regular column for Jane magazine.

[141] On October 6, 2007, Anderson married Salomon in a small wedding ceremony at The Mirage, between her two nightly appearances at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Hans Klok's magic show.

[149] In 1995, personal home videos of Anderson with her then-husband Tommy Lee filmed on a houseboat on Lake Mead were stolen and sold as a sex tape, which resulted in a legal fight and made her the subject of controversy.

[152] In the 2023 Netflix documentary Pamela, a Love Story, Anderson states that there was no confidential agreement over releasing rights to the video, and that she never (by choice) made money from it.