Pamela Anderson recalled a moment she "almost got killed" on a plane when another passenger mistook her for a member of the legendary country music trio the Dixie Chicks, now called The Chicks.
The "Baywatch" star recalled the confrontation during an interview on the "Happy Sad Confused" podcast on Tuesday.
"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?'" she said, according to Variety. "And I was like, 'Oh, my God. What have I done?' I was like, 'Oh God.' I looked back and he was [angry]. Then this stewardess had to handcuff him to the chair because he was trying to attack me."
Anderson said the man thought she was from the Dixie Chicks, adding that she "almost got killed on a plane."
"I was scared to fly after that, a little bit," she said.
While Anderson didn't specify when the incident took place, it likely coincided with the controversy surrounding The Chicks in 2003. The backlash began after lead singer Natalie Maines, during a London concert on March 10 of that year, criticized President George W. Bush and the Iraq invasion, sparking outrage.
The fallout negatively impacted the band's public image and record sales, resulting in radio stations across the country pulling the group's music.
At the time, CNN reported that "station managers said their decisions were prompted by calls from irate listeners who thought criticism of the president was unpatriotic."
Maines later addressed the controversy in an interview with Time magazine, admitting she no longer regretted her statement.
"I apologized for disrespecting the office of the president," she said. "But I don't feel that way anymore. I don't believe he deserves any respect at all."
In 2020, The Chicks decided to drop "Dixie" from their name to distance themselves from the term's historical association with the Confederacy.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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