Pamela Anderson was asked during an interview on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast if she’s ever been mistaken for another celebrity, and her answer ended up being quite shocking. It turns out a man once tried to attack Anderson on an airplane because he thought she was a member of The Chicks, the legendary country music trio previously known as the Dixie Chicks.
“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?’” Anderson said. “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.”
“Yeah. Ended up he thought I was a Dixie Chick. Remember that whole Dixie Chick thing?” Anderson continued. “I almost got killed on a plane. I was scared to fly after that, a little bit.”
Anderson chuckled while recounting the story, but it was no laughing matter at the time. The Golden Globe nominee did not disclose when the incident took place, but it was likely sometime in 2003 amid the national firestorm against The Chicks after lead singer Natalie Maines said during a March 10, 2003 concert in London that her band was ashamed President George W. Bush was from Texas amid the invasion of Iraq. The band’s reputation imploded and their music sales plummeted due to the controversial remark. The backlash is chronicled in The Chicks’ 2006 documentary “Shut Up and Sing.”
While Maines apologized for the remark, she told Time Magazine during the press tour for the documentary that she actually had no regrets over making the comment, adding: “I apologized for disrespecting the office of the president. But I don’t feel that way anymore. I don’t feel he is owed any respect whatsoever.”
The Chicks officially changed their name from the Dixie Chicks in 2020 as the word “Dixie” has historical ties to the Confederacy and the United States’ history of racism.
Watch Anderson’s full interview on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast in the video below.