Australian author Kathy Lette and US television presenter Ruby Wax visit Julian Assange at Ecuadorean embassy

Julian Assange may have been holed-up in a west London embassy building for nearly four months but at least he has not been abandoned to loneliness.

The Wikileaks founder has been kept company by Australian author Kathy Lette and US television presenter Ruby Wax, who both dropped in to visit this afternoon.

The pair, who were said to be “having tea” with Mr Assange, turned up at the Ecuadorean embassy at around 4pm and stayed for around an hour and a half.

Their visits came on the day that it emerged that transparency evangelist Mr Assange sought to pressure a US film festival into not showing a film about his organisation. He was reported by the Guardian newspaper to have threatened legal action against the South by Southwest Festival, which was planning to air WikiLeaks: Secrets and Lies.

Neither Ruby Wax nor Kathy Lette was available today to discuss their conversations with Mr Assange, who faces sexual assault charges in Sweden and is wanted for allegedly breaching his bail by entering the embassy in June.