Controversial Activist Julian Assange Will Guest On The Simpsons' 500th Episode

Once upon a time, The Simpsons was known for pushing boundaries. And for its 500th episode, a controversial figure will be making a guest appearance sure to raise eyebrows and offend people in a way the animated series once did regularly. Julian Assange of WikiLeaks, who is currently awaiting a Supreme Court appearance in Britain, will be a guest voice on the landmark 500th episode.

EW reported that Assange recorded his part back in the summer from a distance – he was still on house arrest and took his direction from Simpsons executive producer Al Jean over the phone. Apparently, considering the man’s state of infamy and the level of controversy surrounding him, producers had a little trouble deciding whether or not to go ahead with the guest appearance. But it’s a go according Al Jean, who said “there’s nothing we did that has anything to do with the legal situation that he’s in”; Assange will be part of the 500th episode of the series.

Assange is currently fighting extradition from Britain to Sweden, where he faces sex crime charges. He is an activist and the founder of WikiLeaks, a website dedicated to leaking secret information from whistleblowers to the public. To say he is opinionated would be a bit of an understatement.

Assange’s character will play the Simpson family’s new neighbor when they flee Springfield to a remote outpost. This guy is no Ned Flanders, however, and it won’t be just Assange’s real life causing controversy when this one airs.

Jean has also confirmed that we’ll be seeing several other guest cameos on the big 500th episode, most of which will be familiar to Simpsons viewers. The show isn’t just celebrating 500 episodes with interesting guests; they’re also planning a marathon to air every single episode back-to-back. Viewers might be too tired at that point to care if Assange is controversial.