Pamela Anderson Says Hugh Hefner Treated Her With "Utter Respect" In Her Life

Hugh Hefner treated Pamela Anderson with total respect. In an interview with the U.K.'s The Sunday Times, the model/actress was questioned at one point "if anyone has ever treated her with complete and utter respect" during the course of her life and career. And she responded, "Hugh Hefner," after giving it some thought. Additionally, Anderson, who was 22 years old when she first appeared on the Playboy cover in 1989, recounted getting the call that founder/editor Hefner, who passed away in 2017 at the age of 91, wanted to fly her to Los Angeles so she could appear in the magazine. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="870"] Image credit: Yahoo Australia[/caption] Anderson, who would later make an appearance on the cover 14 times, remarked, "I was painfully shy and I hated that feeling. That's why I did it. I just didn't want that feeling anymore. Doing that first photoshoot gave me this little kind of portal on what it felt like to be a sensual woman. My sexuality was mine. I took my power back." Also read: Marc Maron speaks out in support of Andrea Riseborough over her Oscar nomination investigation Furthermore, she recently talked in another interview about doing the Playboy gig, "I needed to take my power back as a sexual being, as a woman. I remember looking at the pictures, thinking I still didn't like them but they're okay. And then I thought, 'Well, I really flipped the script.'" "On one hand I was vulnerable," she continued, "but I also felt how could it be any worse than where I was? And if I have a choice with my own body I'm going to take it. I'm going to choose for myself."

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Pamela Anderson paid tribute to Hugh Hefner after his passing in 2017, stating in a now-deleted Instagram post at the time, "I am me because of you. You taught me everything important about freedom and respect. Outside of my family. You were the most important person in my life." [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="1440"] Image credit: Vanity Fair[/caption] The Baywatch star went on to say, "You gave me my life," adding, "Everything anyone loves about me is because you understood me. Accepted me and encouraged me to be myself. Love like no one else. Live recklessly With unfiltered abandon. You said the magazine was about a girl like me. That I embody the spirit you fantasized about. I was the one. You said."