Julian Assange once boasted he had at least four children in perhaps as many countries, but surprisingly, for a champion of truth, no-one knows if that’s true.
The freed WikiLeaks founder has three confirmed offspring from two relationships but rumours persist that he may have many more – fuelled by his own comments.
He once described himself on OkCupid dating site as ’87 per cent s**t’ and said he was looking for ‘a siren for [a] love affair, children and occasional criminal conspiracy.’
Assange, 52, fathered his first son, Daniel, in 1989 – when he was just 18 – with his 17-year-old wife Teresa, after the couple met at a program for gifted children in Melbourne when she was only 16.
Teresa fled the marriage soon after Daniel’s first birthday, which led to a bitter custody battle between Teresa and Assange.
In a 2010 interview with website Crikey, Daniel, a software designer in Melbourne at the time, revealed he had lost contact with Assange, despite his father asking him to join Wikileaks in 2007.
Daniel, however, denied there was any enmity between them.
‘It was just a general decline of relations,’ he said.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange kisses his wife Stella Moris after arriving at Canberra Airport
‘I was getting into my late teenage years, and single father and teenage son don’t mix particularly well in one house.
‘As for him not contacting me following that, it’s probably at least in part an attempt to protect me.
‘If it was known that I was the son and directly involved in some way, there was a likelihood of a direct retaliation, and my father was quite concerned about such things.’
In 2006, Assange launched WikiLeaks and also created the OkCupid dating profile using the name of American science fiction writer, Harry Harrison.
‘WARNING: Want a regular, down to earth guy? Keep moving … I am DANGER, ACHTUNG!’ the profile bragged.
Assange said he was 36, 6ft 2ins and a ‘passionate, and often pig-headed activist intellectual…directing a consuming, dangerous human rights project’.
Stella Moris (centre) and sons, Gabriel (right) and Max (left) leave Belmarsh Prison after visiting her partner and their father, Julian Assange in 2020
In 2010 as his fame exploded when Wikileaks published 250,000 secret US diplomatic cables, Assange was said to be enjoying a rock star’s love life.
‘A lot of women were extremely attracted to Julian, and after a few minutes, they offered themselves to him,’ a Swedish WikiLeaks worker told the Daily Mail.
‘They were like groupies with (Rolling Stones singer) Mick Jagger, and he takes these opportunities.’
In his book Inside WikiLeaks, Daniel Domscheit-Berg, who was a colleague at the pro-transparency website, wrote that Assange would often boast about having at least four ‘love children’.
‘He seemed to enjoy the idea of lots and lots of Julians, one on every continent,’ Mr Domscheit-Berg wrote.
In a 2015 open letter to French newspaper Le Monde Assange revealed he had a child living with an unnamed mother in France.
A US reporter even alleged Assange ‘stole’ his English girlfriend while they were eating at a restaurant in Stockholm in 2010.
The journalist claimed Assange ignored him and instead focused intently on his girlfriend, even following her out for a cigarette.
‘When they hadn’t come back after 45 minutes I went to see what was happening,’ the journalist said.
Daniel Assange is Assange’s son from a relationship the WikiLeaks founder had in his teens
‘They were standing very close together a little way down the street, and Julian was whispering in her ear.’
Later the journalist said he saw his girlfriend and Assange walking hand in hand, and claimed that when he challenged the WikiLeaks founder, ‘he dropped into a classic fighter’s pose, with his fists up’.
‘Assange seemed to take pleasure in humiliating me,’ the reporter said.
However, a few days after this incident, Assange would have two sexual encounters which led to two women, who were only named as Miss A and M, making allegations of sexual misconduct against him.
When asked to comment by a Swedish newspaper on the police accusations, Assange replied: ‘Their identities have been made anonymous so even I have no idea who they are.’
On 18 November 2010, the Swedish government ordered the detention of Assange on suspicion of rape, three cases of sexual molestation and unlawful coercion and a European warrant for his arrest was issued.
However, after Assange holed up in London’s Ecuadorian embassy and fought legal battles against extradition to Sweden the prosecution dropped the case in 2019 saying the lapse of time had ‘weakened the evidence’ they would rely on.
While Assange was in the Ecuadorian embassy, where he claimed political asylum, one of his more glamorous visitors was Baywatch TV star Pamela Anderson, which led to rumours the pair were romantically involved.
Baywatch TV star Pamela Anderson was a frequent visitor with Assange when he was holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy leading to rumours the pair had a romantic involvement
During an interview with Australian KIIS FM’s Kyle and Jackie O in 2017, Assange was asked about this directly.
‘What I really want to know, is what’s going on with you and Pamela Anderson?’ Sandilands asked, ‘Some sort of romance there?’
‘Yeah, a lot of people want to know that which is helpful to draw attention to the situation, but, uh, Pamela Anderson’s an impressive figure,’ he said while chuckling.
Separately Anderson said she and Assange were just friends but that their relationship was ‘invigorating, sexy and funny.’
‘One night, Julian and I shared a strong bottle of mescal. We passed out, and I woke up at four in the morning with his cat on my chest,’ Anderson wrote in her 2023 memoir.
‘We’d both fallen asleep following a slightly frisky, fun, alcohol-induced night together. My car was still waiting outside, and I’m sure that sent some tongues wagging.’
In 2011, while under house arrest Assange met 28-year-old South African-born lawyer Sara Gonzalez Devant, at a property owned by Wikileaks supporter Captain Vaughan Smith.
After joining Assange’s legal team to assist fight against extradition to Sweden the lawyer changed her name to Stella Moris to safeguard her identity and protect her family.
The pair bonded over their strong beliefs in freedom of information and also shared stories of their disjointed childhoods
‘He (Assange) had a very intense gaze,’ Ms Moris said of Assange in a 2021 interview with the Guardian.
‘He didn’t do small talk. He wanted to know where I was coming from. The day I met him, we spoke for two hours. I told him about my life. Julian is unlike anyone I have ever met.’
Assange and his wife Stella Moris kept their relationship a secret for three years even as they got engaged and had two children
‘I spent a lot of time with him. I got to know him,’ she says.
Despite Assange camping out in the Ecuadorian embassy the pair managed to start dating but kept their relationship secret for three years.
‘We set up a tent for privacy and escapism – it was quite cosy,’ Moris said.
‘The cameras multiplied over time. Eventually there was nowhere to go without one hanging over your head…We never showed affection in front of people. Some conversations we had on paper, like when I told him I was pregnant.’
They clandestinely got engaged in 2017, the same year their first son Gabriel was born, with Max following in 2019.
Ms Moris later revealed she managed to keep the pregnancies a secret from her family by wearing baggy clothing.
In November 2021 the couple were married in London’s Belmarsh Prison, with Ms Moris wearing a dress designed by Vivienne Westwood.
Only six guests were in attendance, including Assange’s two brothers and his father.
After winning his protracted legal battle to avoid extradition to the US and flying into Canberra on Wednesday night Assange was finally able to give his wife a hug and kiss as a free man.
‘It was a long time coming, we weren’t allowed to kiss in Belmarsh prison, so it was the best day of my life,’ Ms Moris, who campaigned tirelessly for her husband’s freedom, told Channel Nine.
‘We were just crying and overcome by emotion, everyone was crying when we went into the lounge, everyone was crying and I’m still crying.
‘It was it was indescribable and it was incredible.’
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