Pamela Anderson says hepatitis C diagnosis felt like a ‘death sentence’
Pamela Anderson at amfAR Venezia 2026 held at Molino Stucky on September 06, 2026 in Venice, Italy. (Photo by Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty Images) (Getty Images)
Pamela Anderson has said she was told she had “around 10 years to live” after being diagnosed with hepatitis C in the late 1990s, describing the news as “a death sentence” that shaped her decisions for years. She made the comments while speaking at the amfAR Gala in Venice.
Anderson said: “It was a death sentence. That’s what my doctor told me – that I probably had around 10 years to live.”
She said the diagnosis affected how she moved through the world as a parent. “I’m sure that coloured and corrupted my decisions. It was not fear of death, but fear of what might happen to my young children. It turned my life inside out,” she said. Anderson shares sons Brandon, 30, and Dylan, 28, with her ex-husband Tommy Lee.
Anderson also spoke about the emotional toll. “But my experience of shame and guilt was also an unconscious journey. It stays with me; it haunts me”.
How Anderson described her hepatitis C timeline
Anderson said she contracted hepatitis C around 1999 after sharing a tattoo needle with Lee.
In 2015, Anderson announced she was completely cured of hepatitis C after living with the virus for 16 years.
She also described the financial impact of treatment, saying: “It took everything I had in my bank [to pay for treatment].”
‘I’m not a victim, I’m a victor’
Anderson, a defining 1990s pop-culture figure through Baywatch and a long-running Playboy association, has spoken in recent years about reclaiming her public image. She starred in the 2023 Netflix documentary Pamela, a Love Story, and has been involved in high-profile activism including animal rights advocacy with PETA.
At the Venice event, she pushed back on being framed through pity, saying: “I’m not a victim, I’m a victor. I am strong and capable, more now than I could ever dream of … I’m not the damsel in distress, no matter how easy that role is to play.”
