Satirical WikiLeaks rap featuring Assange’s cameo takes Internet by storm

LONDON - A footage of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange making a cameo appearance on a satirical rap show has become an Internet hit.

Australian internet hit ‘Rap News’ features Assange on an edition entitled ‘News World Order - the war on journalism’, and also makes fun at Donald Rumsfeld and and TV host Bill O’Reilly.

The clip, which was posted on December 17, has already received more than 400,000 hits.

The six-minute skit is the work of university researcher Giordano Nanni, and English teacher Hugo Farrant.

Assange contacted the pair after seeing a previous edition about the Pentagon’s reaction to WikiLeaks releasing secret diplomatic cables.

“He really felt that we’d nailed it, so the possibility of going to London and collaborating on a new episode in the lead-up to the Iraq War Diaries was mooted,” the Daily Mail quoted the Melbourne-based pair, as saying.

After meeting Assange, the pair said they offered him a role in their parody and despite being hesitant initially; the WikiLeaks boss was ‘totally up for it’.

Farrant said, “He was full of creative ideas for how to act and time the entrance, and he really enjoyed lampooning his own image. It was fantastic - we’re still pinching ourselves. He’s a preternaturally calm person, but with a great sense of humour.”

The new clip attacks U.S. reasons for invading Iraq, as well as the detention of prisoners in Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay prisons.

“Our intention with this project was to provide a meaningful contribution to the media discourse around certain issues, so to get access to such an influential figure… was very gratifying indeed,” he added. (ANI)