On Wednesday, Julian Assange, WikiLeaks founder, pleaded guilty to obtaining and publishing U.S. military secrets in a deal with Justice Department prosecutors. This secured his liberty and ended the much-controversial legal drama that questioned and polarised opinions on press freedom and national security.
But beyond WikiLeaks, who is Assange? If one starts digging into the extraordinary life of Assange, then there are so many versions that one comes across.
Assange (52) was born in Queensland and spent childhood and youth in Australia. He wrote on his blog that he attended “37 schools” before he was 14 years old. The blog was deleted at some point. It was also reported that Assange was a part of a religious cult called The Family at some point in his life.
In 2010 and 2016, the man behind WikiLeaks won the most votes in Time Magazine‘s “Person of the Year” poll. According to Time Magazine, the editors make the final call to choose the winner, “but this poll is a way for readers to voice their own opinions on who has made the greatest impact on the world.”
Not many know, but Assange has a certain cool while dancing. A video of him dancing at a nightclub in Reykjavik, Iceland, became viral. The video was taken by a photographer and DJ called Seth Sharp. According to an article, “Leaked: Video of Julian Assange Dancing,” published in Forbes in 2011, “Julian was really letting go and all over the dance floor, and I was impressed at his lack of shyness. So I filmed him and took photos. His white hair was also striking since the clientele at the club was usually much younger-looking,” Sharp said in an interview.
Assange is married to Swedish-Spanish lawyer Stella and they have two children — Max and Gabriel. When Assange was held at London’s Belmarsh prison, the duo married in 2022. Stella’s wedding dress was designed by Dame Vivienne Westwood and Andreas Kronthaler.
Assange also had a cult following among women and was an unlikely crush object, which surprised many as he was also accused of committing sexual crimes against two Swedish women. According to a report by NBC News published in 2010, “Assange, who was released on bail Thursday, addressed reporters and supporters at London’s High Court before being whisked away to a British estate. As the cameras flashed and the noisy audience cried out for him, it wouldn’t have seemed too bizarre if Assange had been pelted with panties and bras.”
They also wrote, “A Facebook group calling itself Feminists for Free Speech has launched a defence of Assange. Glamorous babes (Jemima Khan, Bianca Jagger), political babes (Naomi Wolf and Arianna Huffington), and a host of enthralled female followers (the woman protesting outside the English court with a sign saying ‘Julian, I want your babies’) all seem to be hot for Julian.”
According to NBC News, “The popular women’s blog Jezebel acknowledged the fascination over his looks with a video showing the mighty morphing of his hair. Other bloggers have also gotten caught up in Julian fever — ‘Julianassnageisgorgeous‘ expressed elation at how well he held up while incarcerated and the ‘Julian Fanciers Guild’ declared that the elevation of Assange to ‘Justin Bieber status is complete’.”
