You evidently don’t ever want to get mistaken for a member of The Chicks (formerly known as the Dixie Chicks).
That might seem like a very specific thing to say, but it stems from a mix up that actually happened to legendary actress Pamela Anderson. The 57-year-old model and media personality was arguably one of the biggest stars of the 1990s, mostly thanks to the role of C.J. Parker on the hit show Baywatch. Anderson starred on the show from 1992 to 1997, and she was launched into that role after being named Playboy’s Playmate of the Month in February of 1990.
This makes me feel old typing this out, but younger generations might not know much about her – or even her name. If you happen to be one of those people and you are reading this right now, I’ll just leave this image here as somewhat of an introduction and then I’ll keep things moving:
Pamela Anderson, who was recently had a bit of a career resurgence and stars in the critically acclaimed film The Last Showgirl, has been taking some time to speak with the media ahead of her new movie’s release. One of those stops was with the Happy Sad Confused podcast, and it was while she was on the show that her hard-to-believe Dixie Chicks story came up.
To set the scene a bit, the Dixie Chicks – whom changed their name to just The Chicks in 2020 when all of the hypersensitivity in the world was causing everything to be canceled – were in some hot water in the early 2000s. The band spoke out against the war in Iraq, and even went as far to say that they were “ashamed” that then President George W. Bush was from Texas.
That basically caused the Chicks to become blacklisted, as no radio stations would play their music and other country artists distanced themselves from the group. The backlash also negatively affected Pamela Anderson, as around that time, she was mistaken for one of the Dixie Chicks. That’s at least how she told the story on the Happy Sad Confused podcast:
“This one time, I was on a flight and this guy came up to me and said, ‘Do you know what this country’s done for you?’ And I was like, ‘Oh, my God. What have I done?’ And then I looked back at him and he’d (growl at me). This stewardess had to handcuff him to the chair because he was trying to attack me.”
Can you believe that?
Pamela Anderson was trying to rack her brain for why someone would treat her that way as she was just trying to catch a flight like everyone else. She eventually figured out that the man had mixed her up with one of the members of the country band that everyone was hating on during that time:
“Yeah. And, it ended up … he thought I was a Dixie Chick. Remember that whole Dixie Chicks thing? I almost got killed on a plane. I was scared to fly after that for a little bit, but you know, (I got over it).”
Natalie Maines is the only member of the Dixie Chicks (now known as just The Chicks) that could even remotely be confused for Pam Anderson, and she was really the face of the backlash in the early 2000s. However… still not quite sure how you can mix those two up. Not sure if Pam should be more offended by the attack or the mix up.
You can hear Pamela Anderson tell her wild Dixie Chicks mix up story in the interview below: