WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange to Appear as Himself on The Simpsons

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WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will surely be amused after news of his cameo appearance on an upcoming episode of The Simpsons leaked out.

And it’s not just your run-of-the-mill episode: Assange will appear on the 500th edition of one of the longest-running shows to grace our screens, with the episode airing on Feb. 19.

(VIDEO: Assange on TIME’s Top 10 Leaks)

Credit for the exclusive scoop goes to our TIME Inc. stablemates Entertainment Weekly. Simpsons Executive Producer Al Jean told EW that series creator Matt Groening had heard a rumor that Assange was interested in guest-starring, “so we asked our casting director Bonnie Pietila — who had been able to unearth Thomas Pynchon and got Tony Blair to do the show — to find Mr. Assange. And she did.”

The production team didn’t get to meet Assange, as he recorded his lines last summer at a secret location (“I was just given a number to call,” Jean said). This seems in keeping with his personal circumstances at the moment: not only is Assange under house arrest but he is set to appear before Britain’s Supreme Court Wednesday to appeal extradition to Sweden in connection with sex crimes allegations.

As for details of the landmark show, titled “At Long Last Leave,” Homer and Marge find out that Springfield residents are holding a secret town meeting to boot them out of Springfield. Assange’s exact role is unclear, though it’s believed he plays a neighbor in their new town. “He invites them over for a home movie and it’s an Afghan wedding being bombed,” Jean told EW. But we’ll be disappointed if a leak (and not the kind usually associated with Bart) isn’t involved.

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