Pamela Anderson says Americans have the wrong idea about Russians: 'It's annoying'

On the same day that President Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, actress Pamela Anderson made her own comments about Putin and the relationship between Americans and Russians.

“We’re programmed in America to think that if anything’s gone wrong, it’s Russia’s fault. It’s just the go-to thing to do,” Anderson said in a June interview with the Daily Beast published today. “So that’s kind of a common joke there when I go to visit. They say, ‘Well, what have we done wrong this time?’ And it’s authentic. People around the table are very, very powerful people, and they have this look of, ‘What now? Tell us what’s going on!’ It’s authentic.”

Anderson, who often advocates for animals and marine life, said the American people have the wrong ideas about the Russians.

“I’ve also had conversations when I was [in Russia] about the captivity of dolphins and the illegal captivity of whales — that are then being sold to Chinese aquariums — and I’ve seen teary eyes in the room,” she said. “People just think Russians are very scary and stoic, but they can be very emotional, very engaged, and wanting to do the right thing. It’s annoying. America can be very annoying, how everything is so anti-Russia.”

The Baywatch star’s friendship with Putin dates back more than 10 years. She insisted that her relationship with the Russian leader, as well as the one between her and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, is not romantic. (French professional football player Adil Rami is her current love.) Anderson said she met Putin through her advocacy work.

Pamela Anderson attends a fashion show on July 8, 2017, in Paris. (Photo: Frederic Stevens/WireImage)
Pamela Anderson attends a fashion show on July 8, 2017, in Paris. (Photo: Frederic Stevens/WireImage)

“It was about not importing seal products into Russia, because I want to stop the seal hunting in Canada — and being Canadian, that is such a stain on Canada. I worked closely with Brigitte Bardot and Russia’s IFAW [International Fund for Animal Welfare], so this is why I’ve spoken at the Kremlin a few times with the minister of the environment, and they’ve made such great changes when it comes to protecting endangered species. It’s a different way of doing business there, obviously, and I don’t agree with everything, but the things that I’ve been involved in there, things move very fast, and it’s good to see that they’re so forward-thinking when it comes to the environment.”

Anderson was also introduced to Trump years ago, and she recalled attending one of his birthday parties. “Did he ever try with you?” the interviewer asked.

“I was paid like $500 to go [to the party], I think. But no, never,” Anderson answered. “I don’t know which wife he was with, but he was with a wife. A blonde with a heavy accent. Aren’t they all blondes with heavy accents? Oh no, Melania is a brunette. I don’t know who he was with. And I don’t think he was lecherous. I think he was very kind, and, thinking back, he was always very curious about how people were managing their lives, career, and celebrity. I don’t know when it was, but I must have been doing something involved with activism, and I remember he came up to me and said, ‘Good for you!’”

Pamela Anderson poses with Donald Trump at his birthday event at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, N.J., June 11, 2005. (Photo: Nick Valinote/FilmMagic)
Pamela Anderson poses with Donald Trump at his birthday event at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, N.J., June 11, 2005. (Photo: Nick Valinote/FilmMagic)

The two haven’t kept in touch since Trump became POTUS, so Anderson has reached out to famous friends to try to influence him. What she really wants is for Trump to pardon Assange, who’s been embroiled in legal battles, including charges of sexual assault, for years. (Swedish authorities have dropped the rape investigation, and Assange has always denied the allegations.) For Anderson’s part, she said the charges were “made-up things.”

Instead of going straight to the source, Anderson looked to Trump supporter Kanye West, who’s publicly met with the former Apprentice star.

“Well you know, I try to think about my friendships — and my friends who have a lot of access to people — and I look at them and wonder why they’re not doing more,” Anderson said. “So I reached out to [Kanye] and I also gave Kim [Kardashian] a fake fur coat, and she’s sworn off fur, which is great. I’ve known Kim and Kanye for a long time. I don’t really see them too much, but with Kanye, I don’t know, I think he’s a really interesting guy. His thing is his thing and he’s very unique. We need more unique figures.”

Another celebrity she turned to for help probably has substantially less sway with Trump, assuming that West or anyone else has any.

“I saw Alec Baldwin the other day at Match Game and asked him, ‘How do you get along with Trump?’ and he’s like, ‘Ah, not great.’ I said, ‘Well, if you get Julian a pardon maybe he could host Saturday Night Live!’ — because Julian is really funny and not a lot of people know that.”

It’s likely that Anderson herself has not been following SNL in the past couple of seasons. While Baldwin’s Trump parody earned him an Emmy (and a second nomination just last week), it’s gotten him less-than-favorable reviews from Trump.

She should try talking to Alec’s brother (and Justin Bieber’s future father-in-law), Stephen Baldwin.

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