In an interview with The Daily Beast , former Baywatch star and current activist Pamela Anderson discussed the nature of her relationship with Julian Assange, ride-hailing app safety, Russia, and the Me Too movement.
Anderson, who has recently partnered with the National Limousine Association’s Ride Responsibility initiative, discussed her newfound concern with ride-hailing app safety.
Anderson explained, “I realized that these drivers aren’t vetted, so there’s danger involved, and there’s this false sense of security because it’s an app, so felt it was something I could bring awareness to. Then to find out that the drivers are also exploited by the company, as it’s a part of this gig economy where they’re not supplying them with health care or any kind of rights as an employee, it all started feeling really seedy.”
“Now riders have these panic apps and things,” she continued, “which shows you that it’s probably not a good idea to get an Uber if you need a panic app!”
Anderson discussed the link between ride-hailing app safety and the Me Too movement in a recent public service announcement commercial for Ride Responsibly. “It was happening at the time when we were putting the commercial together,” she noted, adding that she also thought it was important to draw attention to the movement at the time.
“We need to not have this false sense of security that these things are safe,” Anderson noted. “So we have to take preventative measures, and it’s not victim-blaming, because obviously the perpetrator is always at fault, but we have to be more vigilant about protecting ourselves.”
Anderson then went on to talk about her relationship with Julian Assange and her involvement in the Courage Foundation, revealing that she had initially reached out to him and sought his advice to learn how to become a better activist.
Anderson said of Assange, “I do believe he’s one of the leaders of the free world who’s very beloved and admired by young people, mostly. Information is happening so fast and is so rapidly moving that we need someone like Julian to help us understand and make sense of it all, and I don’t understand why he’s the enemy,” adding that she has learned a lot from him.
Anderson, who has also had a longtime personal connection with Russian President Vladimir Putin due to her work as an animal rights activist, voiced her opinion on America’s recent anti-Russian sentiment.
“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,” she said.
“We’re programmed in America to think that if anything’s gone wrong it’s Russia’s fault,” Anderson continued. “It’s just the go-to thing to do.”
“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,” she added. “America can be very annoying, how everything is so anti-Russia.”
