Inside Tommy Lee & His Sons' Complex Relationship Now After Years Of Feuds & Fights
Has Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee's relationship turned the couple's sons away from their father?
DFree / Andrea Raffin / Shutterstock & Instagram Tommy Lee's relationship with his children is coming under scrutiny after his ex-wife's candid documentary about her life and their relationship.
Pamela Anderson’s Netflix documentary — “Pamela, a Love Story,” tells the story of the 90s' most famous bombshell and provides a background partially overlooked by Hulu's “Pam & Tommy'' — a series Anderson has expressed her discontent with.
Anderson's Netflix documentary, which was produced by her eldest son Brandon, reexamines her cultural impact, sexuality, and career — only this time in her own words.
In the documentary, Anderson recalls the incidents leading up to their split, including an altercation that occurred in front of the couple’s sons, Brandon and Dylan.
Anderson claims that during an argument, “Brandon was shaking and screaming and holding my leg, stressed” while she hyperventilated in fear of Lee. She says that Lee “went black” and was unrecognizable after she told him “‘you gotta grow up, it’s not about you anymore.’”
In 1998, the Mötley Crüe drummer was arrested and charged with child and spousal abuse after allegedly assaulting Anderson while she was holding their infant son.
Despite this, Anderson has always defended Lee as the father of her kids telling People in 2015 that, "My kids are grateful to be born out of true love."
Does Tommy Lee get along with his sons, Brandon and Dylan?
Lee and Anderson's sons Brandon Thomas Lee and Dylan Jagger Lee are now 26 and 25 respectively and while their close relationship with their mom is well-documented, things with their dad are more complex.
Tommy Lee and son, Brandon, were not on speaking terms after an altercation in 2018.
In March 2018, Lee posted a now-deleted Instagram photo of his bloody lip with the caption, “You can give your kids everything they could ever want in their entire lives and they can still turn against you. Good job Brandon! Great son!”
Brandon later confirmed he was responsible for his dad’s swollen lip, but claims that he acted in self-defense because Lee was drunk.
A 911 call soon surfaced that saw Lee's now-wife, Brittany Furlan, allege that Brandon had knocked his father unconscious.
On the night of the alleged assault, March 5, Lee had tweeted his disdain after Anderson opened up about their abusive relationship in an interview with Piers Morgan.
“@piersmorgan ur interviews w/ Donald Trump & my ex-wife are pathetic! Think she’d find something new to discuss instead of rehashing old s*** – but I guess she has nothing else going on & needs attention,” he ends the tweet with “Signed, ‘the abuser’ (who she texts everyday & asks for me back)”.
Brandon later defended himself via a public statement.
“I’m devastated at the events of the last several days that have been a result of my father’s alcoholism. I’ve worked tirelessly organizing an intervention and it’s incredibly upsetting that it never came to fruition,” the statement to People read.
“I wanted my dad’s hopeful sobriety and recovery to be a private family matter but, as a result of his accusations on social media, I feel forced to speak out. I have and will continue to cooperate with law enforcement as needed. I love my father and just want to see him sober, happy and healthy.”
The case was later dismissed by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office in April.
Brandon claimed Tommy was an absent father.
In June 2018, the father and son's feud became public once again after Lee took to Instagram a few months after the altercation to make a Father’s Day post where he claims, “Sometimes I feel like I failed as a father, because my kids don’t know the value of things."
He goes on “I never wanted this for my kids. I know I’m not fully to blame, because their mom has a lot to do with it, enabling bad behavior and buying them things when they weren’t good, but I guess I hoped at the end of the day they would end up kind.”
Brandon replied by sharing a now-deleted screenshot of his dad's post on his own Instagram account, claiming that his father was absent and had no influence on him or his brother Dylan.
“Someone like you couldn’t raise a man like me,” he added.
“Once again painting our family in a negative light. Who the f*** are you? Just move on dude… WE ALL HAVE. or I’ll put you right back to f***ing sleep.”
Posting a video of Tommy passed out on the ground, Brandon writes, “Look a little sleepy there Tommy.” The next morning the video was taken down and Brandon posted a note to his father.
"Tommy. If you want to bad mouth me, do it to my face. You post something for the world to see, saying that I’m a bad kid and my mom is a bad mother, what do you expect?" he asked.
"How would you even know if I’m a bad kid, you’re not even around enough to know what kind of a person I am."
Brandon continued, “You’re mad I didn’t say Happy Father’s Day to you?? So what?! My birthday was on June 5th motherf—er … I didn’t hear s— from you … and I didn’t go telling the world what a let down you are. Come on man. It’s time to move on. Let’s keep this private.”
Tommy Lee appears to have reconciled with his sons after years of ups and downs.
On December 13, 2018, Tommy posted a black and white photo of him hugging his son with the caption: “I love you son @brandonthomaslee”.
Brandon responded “Love you Dad,” while Brandon’s brother Dylan commented, “Love u guys.”
In 2021, the family all came together at Brandon’s launch party for Swingers Club, his fashion collaboration with Local Authority. Pamela and Tommy even posed together for a photo with their son to show their support.
It is unclear if the father and sons are on good terms following the release of Anderson's documentary.
Maddie Haley is a writer for YourTango's news and entertainment team. She covers pop culture and celebrity news.