Pamela Anderson shared a story about being confronted on a flight after being mistaken for a member of the country band The Chicks, formerly called the Dixie Chicks.
While talking about her new movie, The Last Showgirl, on the Happy Sad Confused podcast on Tuesday, Anderson told host Josh Horowitz about the incident.
“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?'” the former Baywatch star recalled.
“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, like, 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 said, referring to virulent criticism of the band after its members spoke out against the United States’ invasion of Iraq in 2003.
“I almost got killed on a plane,” said Anderson. “I was scared to fly after that, a little bit.”
The Chicks are one of the most successful female bands and country groups in music history. They have won 13 Grammy Awards, 10 CMA Awards, and eight ACM Awards.
In 2003, just before the invasion of Iraq, lead singer Natalie Maines said during a concert that the group, originally from Dallas, did not support the war and was “ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas.”
Her comments about then-President George W. Bush caused a strong backlash, including boycotts from fans and country radio stations across the U.S. removing their music from playlists.
In March 2003, CNN reported that “station managers said their decisions were prompted by calls from irate listeners who thought criticism of the president was unpatriotic.”
