On Thursday, all anyone could talk about—other than, of course, the powerful, star-studded memorial for fallen hip-hop artist and activist Nipsey Hussle—was the ejection of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London and his subsequent arrest.
Assange, whose WikiLeaks organization is alleged to have conspired with the Russians to publish hacked information during the 2016 presidential election, spent six years, nine months, and 24 days in the embassy. Following his expulsion, he was immediately brought to court and found guilty on an outstanding bail-jumping warrant in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faced rape charges.
“It was a tough day for Julian Assange. The founder of WikiLeaks was arrested in London and could soon be extradited to the United States,” said Jimmy Kimmel, before airing footage of Assange being hauled out of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London by his hands and feet.
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“There he is—that’s Julian being gently escorted from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, where he’s been holed up since 2012,” narrated Kimmel. “Why he looks like Tom Hanks in Cast Away we don’t know. He was living in an embassy; he was not stuck on a deserted island. He had access to grooming tools!”
The U.S. Justice Department is hoping to extradite Assange stateside so he can face espionage charges. The whole ordeal has been tough on Pamela Anderson, who’s been one of Assange’s most outspoken defenders, having visited him in the embassy on numerous occasions amid rumors of a romantic affair—which she’s denied.
Following the expulsion and arrest news, Anderson went off on Twitter:
“Signed Pamela Anderson. The ‘Tool Time’ girl.’ I love this,” joked Kimmel. “It seems there’s some kind of secret organization that assigns a C-list celebrity to every cause. Pamela Anderson, you get WikiLeaks! Dennis Rodman, you’re on North Korea! Steven Seagal, you take Russia! Chuck Norris, guns! Jenny McCarthy, vaccines! Tom Arnold, pee tape is yours! Meat Loaf, GMOs! Gary Busey, you can take everything else!”
Kimmel then mocked Assange’s giant, unkempt beard and greasy hair tied in a ponytail.
“Maybe a change of scenery will be good for Julian Assange. He doesn’t look great. He looks like the kind of guy who cackles at the sky while operating the Tilt-A-Whirl,” cracked Kimmel.
“Why Ecuador gave him up is unknown, but it’s possible they just got sick of him,” he continued. “According to their interior minister, he did a number of antisocial things—including smearing feces on the embassy wall. And that, speaking as someone who frequently welcomes houseguests, is definitely the type of thing you frown upon.”
