(Editor’s note: Attention to language in 4th paragraph)

FILE PHOTO - Pamela Anderson, actress and animals rights defender, attends a news conference at the National Assembly to protest the force-feeding of geese used in the production of foie gras, in Paris, France, January 19, 2016. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Former “Baywatch” actress Pamela Anderson attacked the British and Ecuadorean governments following the arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Thursday, and called Donald Trump a “toxic coward of a President.”

Anderson, who blogged about Assange and made numerous trips to the Ecuadorean embassy in London during Assange’s seven-year stay there, called him a “hero” in a series of Twitter posts.

“I am in shock,” the 51-year-old actress, former Playboy model and animal rights campaigner tweeted as news broke that Ecuador had revoked Assange’s asylum, paving the way for his extradition to the United States on charges related to one of the biggest-ever leaks of classified information.

“How could you Equador? ... How could you UK? ” she wrote, adding, “you need a diversion from your idiotic Brexit bullshit.”

“And the USA?” Anderson tweeted. “This toxic coward of a President, He needs to rally his base? - You are selfish and cruel.”

Trump on Thursday told reporters he had no opinion on the charges against Assange. In 2016, during the presidential election campaign, Trump had said “I love WikiLeaks” after it released emails that U.S. authorities have said were hacked by Russia to harm Trump’s Democratic election opponent, Hillary Clinton.

Photographers had snapped Anderson, often carrying take-out food, making numerous visits to the Ecuadorean embassy in London in 2017. Assange’s visitors were restricted in October 2018.

There was no word on Thursday from Lady Gaga, who was also a prominent early supporter of Assange, or from British fashion designer Vivienne Westwood.

Westwood last week posted a photo on Twitter of herself wearing a T-shirt carrying the message “I’m Julian Assange,” and tweeted: “Julian’s been imprisoned on a phoney claim of jumping bail. The issue is freedom of speech.”