Julian Assange’s shock plea twist has seen the Wikileaks founder walk from prison in London after five years behind bars. But the 52-year-old has never been alone in his bid for freedom.
Among Assange’s high-profile supporters and countless activists fighting for his release stood one unlikely advocate: Baywatch icon Pamela Anderson.
It’s reported the pair first met in 2014 through none other than fashion designer Vivienne Westwood. When Assange was hiding out in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, where he remained for seven years, the actress paid him regular visits.
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Their meetings were secret at first, but when the media caught wind of their unexpected friendship, rumours began to swirl that their connection was something more than platonic.
In her memoir Love Pamela, which was released in early 2023, Anderson admitted they once enjoyed a “frisky, fun, alcohol-induced night together”.
“My car was still waiting outside, and I’m sure that sent some tongues wagging,” she wrote in the book.
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“I felt like my connection to Julian was the human one,’ she later told Interview Magazine.
“We had a close connection and he even said that I was the only person he’s ever trusted.”
In an interview with Nine’s 60 Minutes in 2018, Anderson also denied that her relationship with Assange was romantic.
“We don’t have a romantic relationship, but I feel very close to him and I feel closer to him than I think a lot of people have gotten to him,” she said.
Of course, Anderson was attracted to Assange and his plight for a much more important reason. She fiercely believed in his innocence and wanted to help.
The actress once described Assange on X (formerly Twitter) as “the world’s most innocent man”.
When Assange was sentenced to prison in London for skipping bail in 2012, his Hollywood supporter and now friend doubled down on her public advocacy for his release and pardon.
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“It is going to be a long fight,” Anderson told reporters outside the prison in 2019. “He deserves our support, he needs our support.”
“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.”
Elsewhere in her memoir, Anderson also detailed the lengths she went to to help Assange protest his innocence during his time in jail.
She was the first to visit him in his supermax prison in London, describing it as “the most frightening place I’ve ever visited”.
And while spending time in Australia, Anderson wrote a letter to then Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison imploring the government to intervene.
“He responded cheekily in the press by saying he’d love to meet me if he could bring a few of his buddies along,” she wrote.
“That didn’t go over well – women were unimpressed with his insensitive remarks, which, by then, had reached the international press.”
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Anderson went on to acknowledge that it was tough for her support of Assange to be taken seriously, given her role as a “bombshell” and “sex symbol” throughout her career.
“I am who I am, which is a combination of all I know, and I’ve always believed that striving to be a sensual person, or being sexy, should not conflict with intelligence. Women have fought hard so that we do not need to limit ourselves,” she said.
“And this confirmed for me that I had to use all I had even more to get attention for what was right.”
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Over the past five years Assange has been in prison, Anderson has maintained her friendship with the WikiLeaks founder. The duo’s respective relationships have been proof their bond remains platonic.
Assange went on to marry his wife, Stella, in 2022. Anderson, meanwhile, reconnected with her ex Jon Peters in 2020, however the pair split soon after.
Australian-born Assange walked free from Belmarsh prison on June 24 UK time after reaching a plea deal with the US Justice Department.
The Australian will plead guilty to a felony charge, resolving a long-running legal saga that spanned multiple continents and centred on the publication of a trove of classified documents, according to court papers filed late on Monday (US time, Tuesday morning AEST).
According to WikiLeaks, Assange has already been freed from Belmarsh Prison, where he was held for 1901 days, after being granted bail by the UK High Court, and left Britain from London’s Stansted Airport.
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