Pamela Anderson, Liam Neeson ‘Romance’ Was Studio Strategy From Day One, Insiders Reveal

Pamela Anderson and Liam Neeson’s cozy press tour chemistry for The Naked Gun was engineered by their publicity teams from the start, according to TMZ’s sources with direct knowledge of the rollout.

I am Avery Sinclair, your resident eye roll with a byline. Another day, another disappointment. Let us dive in.

Here is the exclusive scoop without the sugar glaze: the flirty “Pam plus Liam” narrative that dominated the July 2025 press junket was a marketing recipe, not a meet-cute. TMZ reports the stunt dates back to spring 2024 while The Naked Gun was still filming, with the warm-and-fuzzy storyline baked into the campaign well before anyone started asking about on-set sparks. The most Instagram-friendly beat was the bread bit. Pamela said she was baking muffins and sourdough for Liam, and he played along in pre-premiere interviews. Adorable, sure, but TMZ’s insiders say it was pure role-play PR. If you smelled yeast, it was coming from the press notes.

Now for the timeline that makes the narrative crumble. Filming wrapped in June 2024. Per TMZ, the pair did not see each other again until the global press machine kicked on in July 2025. No off-camera rendezvous, no private date nights. In fact, those “intimate dinners” were nothing of the sort. Sources tell TMZ any bread-breaking was strictly business, with assistants seated at the table and zero romance on the menu. If there was a spark, it was likely from a votive candle the publicist placed center table for ambiance.

We asked the obvious: do the reps deny it? According to TMZ, both actors’ teams were contacted, and no responses arrived. Silence is not confirmation, but in Hollywood it is rarely accidental. Meanwhile, the numbers tell their own story. Box office trackers, such as Box Office Mojo, peg The Naked Gun reboot’s worldwide haul at just over 89 million dollars against a reported budget of 42 million dollars, which TMZ also cites. That is solid business for a legacy brand relaunch, and yes, a glossy “are they or aren’t they” narrative can be a tidy little multiplier. Marketing 101: sell the fantasy, sell the tickets.

Paramount had plenty riding on a crowd-pleasing revival, and a made-to-measure press romance is the sort of crowd pleaser you can storyboard. The beats were textbook: charming sound bites, coy interview teases, a running gag you can cut into clips for social media, then coordinated appearances to keep the speculation simmering without boiling over. If you felt like you were watching a rom-com within a comedy reboot, that is because, per TMZ’s reporting, you were.

Let us be crystal clear on attribution. The central allegation that the relationship was a PR construction comes from TMZ’s sources with direct knowledge. The measurable outcomes are public: the release calendar, the summer press surge, and the box office receipts that prove the tactic did what it was designed to do. The rest is what it always is in studio land, a curated illusion wrapped in a wink.

There is also the cultural context. Hollywood loves a headline-friendly pairing, and faux flames have been quietly fanning promotional tours for decades. What made this one pop was the clean simplicity of the bit. No messy backstory, no tabloid chaos, just wholesome carbs and coy smiles. It was easy to package, easy to repeat, and impossible to disprove in the moment without blowing up the campaign. That is not deception in the legal sense. It is marketing in the classic sense, as old as the marquee itself.

So where does that leave the fans who were rooting for a late-in-life swoon between the Baywatch bombshell and the action icon with a very particular set of skills? Probably exactly where the campaign wanted you, talking about them and buying a ticket. And for the studio, mission accomplished. If the goal was to refresh a brand and get butts in seats, the receipts suggest it worked.

Will anyone go on the record to confirm the choreography? Unlikely. Will publicists dry up a tactic that just delivered a profitable run? Absolutely not. If anything, expect more wink-and-nod “chemistry” on the next reboot, complete with snackable talking points and a viral-friendly inside joke. Keep your eyes peeled for the sequel, and maybe for banana bread.

File this one under predictable but effective. The muffins were metaphorical, the sourdough was strategic, and the romance was a storyline. Nothing shocking here, folks. Let us all act surprised.

Sources: Celebrity Storm and TMZ, Box Office Mojo, Paramount Pictures
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