Pamela Anderson Deserves a 'Break' to Play Virgin Mary, Canadian TV Host Tells Catholics

TORONTO - Canadian funnyman Russell Peters remains defiant about casting Pamela Anderson to play the Virgin Mary in his upcoming Christmas TV special, despite stirring up heavy criticism from the Catholic media.

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"I didn't even think of the other side of Pam Anderson which is so long ago, it's like come on, give the chick a break already,” Peters told the CTV News Channel Monday, referring to the former Baywatch star’s nude photo shoots and homemade porn videos with Tommy Lee.

Anderson is to play mother Mary holding baby Jesus in her arms, opposite Peters as Joseph, in the CTV and The Comedy Network's A Russell Peters Christmas Special.

Predictably, the Canadian TV show, called “irreverent” by CTV in its publicity, has unleashed a flood of opinion pieces from Catholic publications that criticize Anderson for playing the Virgin Mary.

But Peters said the casting conforms to the 1970s-style variety show he plans for Canadian TV.

"We had written the sketch and we didn't know who we were putting in it and we thought, hey, Pam Anderson is Canadian, we can use more Canadian people in this show," he said.