'Baywatch' star bares all to court

Pamela Anderson Lee, the Baywatch star who has been sued for backing out of a movie deal, stepped into the witness stand yesterday to explain why she objected to the film.

The actress, best-known for her performances as a swimsuit-clad lifeguard, has bared all for Playboy magazine. But she objected to the proposed topless bathing scene in the film, Hello, She Lied. "It seemed like it was there for a cheap thrill," she told a court in Los Angeles.

The Canadian-born actress, who is married to rock drummer Tommy Lee, claimed she changed her mind about making the film after seeing the script. She objected to the scenes involving simulated sex, including nude scenes in a shower and on a pool table.

She said that when she objected to one scene in which she was meant to simulate making love to a man in a gymnasium, the movie-makers changed only the location - to a bedroom.

She has been sued for $5m (pounds 3m) by Private Movie, which alleges that she broke an agreement to star in the film and had pulled out in order to make the feature film Barb Wire instead. Hello, She Lied was later made as Miami Hustler, starring Kathy Ireland, a model in the lead role, and aired on cable television. Clare Garner