{"id":840153,"date":"2026-09-08T03:20:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T03:20:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/840153\/"},"modified":"2026-09-08T03:20:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T03:20:10","slug":"pamela-anderson-was-given-10-years-to-live-after-hepatitis-c-diagnosis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/840153\/","title":{"rendered":"Pamela Anderson was given 10 years to live after hepatitis C diagnosis"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pamela Anderson candidly reflected on her diagnosis with hepatitis C in the late 1990s, when there was no cure for the virus.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a death sentence,\u201d the \u201cBaywatch\u201d alum told the crowd at the 2026 amfAR Gala Venezia, an event to raise funds for medical research, in Venice, Italy, on Sunday, per Variety.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what my doctor told me \u2014 that I probably had around 10 years to live.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pamela Anderson (seen above on Sunday) recalled being diagnosed with hepatitis C in the late 1990s. Getty Images for amfAR<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a death sentence,\u201d the actress shared at the 2026 amfAR Gala Venezia on Sunday. Getty Images for amfAR<\/p>\n

Anderson, now 59, admitted that the diagnosis may have \u201ccolored and corrupted [her] decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was not fear of death, but fear of what might happen to my young children,\u201d she added, referring to her kids, Brandon Thomas, 30, and Dylan Jagger, 28, whom she shares with her ex-husband Tommy Lee.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt turned my life inside out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what my doctor told me \u2014 that I probably had around 10 years to live,\u201d she said. BACKGRID<\/p>\n

Following her diagnosis, Anderson lived in fear over what would happen to her and her two kids, Brandon Thomas and Dylan Jagger (seen here). AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Anderson previously shared that she contracted hepatitis C when she and Lee, who were married from 1995 to 1998, shared a tattoo needle.<\/p>\n

Medications to cure hepatitis C were approved in 2011, and Anderson was free of the disease<\/a> by 2015. <\/p>\n

The actress told Sunday\u2019s crowd that it \u201ctook everything [she] had in [her] bank\u201d to undergo treatment.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt turned my life inside out,\u201d Anderson (seen here in 2001) said. Getty Images<\/p>\n

The \u201cBaywatch\u201d star shares her two sons with her ex-husband Tommy Lee (seen here). WireImage<\/p>\n

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Despite being free from the disease, Anderson explained her \u201cexperience of shame and guilt was also an unconscious journey\u201d that \u201cstays\u201d with and \u201chaunts\u201d her.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd just like the sexual abuse that I endured as a child, it felt like it was carved into my forehead: Damaged goods,\u201d she added. \u201cAnd I presented myself as such.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, the \u201cLast Showgirl\u201d star refuses to view herself as a victim.<\/p>\n

Anderson (seen here with Lee) previously shared that she contracted the disease by sharing a tattoo needle with her ex. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Anderson (seen here on Sunday) was cured in 2015. BACKGRID<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a victor,\u201d Anderson said. \u201cI am strong and capable, more now than I could ever dream of. I\u2019m not the damsel in distress, no matter how easy that role is to play.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anderson was honored with the Award of Courage at the nonprofit\u2019s event, whose mission is dedicated to ending AIDS.<\/p>\n

The \u201cNaked Gun\u201d star first shared her diagnosis in 2002 and told People<\/a> in 2015, ahead of her cure, that she didn\u2019t have symptoms and was living life normally.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pamela Anderson candidly reflected on her diagnosis with hepatitis C in the late 1990s, when there was no…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":840154,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[4528,112102,91,88,206,35217,92],"class_list":["post-840153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-womens-health","tag-baywatch","tag-celebrity-news","tag-entertainment","tag-movies","tag-pamela-anderson","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=840153"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840153\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/840154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=840153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=840153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=840153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}