Julian Assange and Pamela Anderson have nurtured a decade-long relationship (Picture: AFP/Twitter)
Baywatch star Pamela Anderson is a close friend of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, but what is the story behind their unconventional friendship?
In 2010, Australian national Julian, 52, came under fire for publishing leaks from US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning. This has been labelled the largest security breach of its kind in the US.
The activist was charged with conspiracy and, after a 12-year legal battle, has been held in Belmarsh prison in London for a little over five years.
But on Tuesday, Julian was released from prison as part of a plea deal with the US government where he pled guilty to a single criminal charge of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified US national defence documents.
He is set to return to Australia as a free man after several years.
Throughout Julian’s legal troubles, he has one friend steadfastly advocating for his case to the public – actress and model Pamela Anderson.
Julian has just been released from Belmarsh prison (Picture: Getty/AFP)
How did Julian Assange and Pamela Anderson become friends?
After an arrest warrant was issued by Westminster Magistrates Court in June 2012, Julian lived in the Ecuadorian embassy until his arrest in 2019.
According to Pamela’s 2023 memoir Love, Pamela, the pair were first introduced through fashion designer Vivienne Westwood in 2014.
She used to bring him vegan meals and was interested in her ‘perspective on global issues’.
Although they tried to keep their budding friendship low-key, eventually the media caught onto the Canadian-American star’s regular visits to the embassy. She also shared content from her visits in since-deleted posts on her Foundation website.
Pamelahas used social media as a platform (Picture: Pamela Anderson/X)
In a tell-all interview with People in 2017, she spoke about their connection.
‘We talk about the world. He’s a very good teacher. Julian is one of my favorite people. He is a refugee. He might be the most famous refugee of our time— famous for being persecuted,’ she explained.
‘He’s a good person who cares about the world,” she says. “He is a kind and deeply empathetic person. He is funny, sensitive, romantic, surprisingly resourceful. He’s a good man.
The same interview sparked rumours of a romance.
‘Julian is trying to free the world by educating it. It is a romantic struggle – I love him for this.
‘I understand that our “affair” and the curiosity surrounding that might bring some attention to his situation. That’s fine, but I’d rather not go into private details. Let’s just say everyone deserves love,’ she said at the time.
The actress has had to battle romance rumours (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
But soon after shut it down, telling Piers Morgan on Good Morning Britain: ‘I wouldn’t call it a romance. I have romance in my life. Can one man do it all? That’s what I want to know. One for conversation, one to be a lover.’
In her memoir she did admit to a wild night together after sharing a ‘strong bottle of mescal’.
‘We’d both fallen asleep following a slightly frisky, fun, alcohol-induced night together,’ she shared.
‘My car was still waiting outside, and I’m sure that sent some tongues wagging. We joked about getting hitched on the front steps of the embassy – maybe then they wouldn’t arrest him?’
Julian Assange has since tied the knot with partner Stella Morris.
What did Pamela Anderson do to help Julian Assange?
Pamela gave money to his mother to help him (Picture: Pamela Anderson/X)
After several years of bringing light to his case, Pamela increased her activism on his behalf after his arrest in 2019.
She took to X to say she was ‘in shock’.
Standing outside the prison in 2019, she added to reporters: ‘It is going to be a long fight. He deserves our support, he needs our support.
She regularly visited the WikiLeaks founder in prison (Picture: PA)
‘He deserved our support because he has sacrificed so much to bring the truth out and we deserve the truth. That is all I can say. I am sorry, I feel sick, I feel nauseous. We are here to save his life, that is what this is.’
In her memoir, Pamela explained that she met with Julian’s mother to offer ‘cash resources’ so two MPs could visit him in prison.
The former Playboy model even tried to write to the Australian Prime Minister at the time, Scott Morrison, to ask his government for help against the smear campaigns, although he simply replied with an ‘insensitive’ remark about ‘bringing his buddies’.
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