Julian Assange, under house arrest in England, hosted a "lavish 40th birthday party with celebrity guests" on Sunday. Which celebrities? Not Angelina and Brad Pitt. They were invited, but apparently took a pass.

The reported guest list for Assange's birthday bash seems more to do with who was on this week's Us Weekly than supporters of the cause: Oprah Winfrey, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Johnny Depp, Anna Wintour and Eliot Spitzer. Really? Could even the most die-hard Wikileaks fanatic believe Oprah would swoop in for the day to pop champagne with Julian Assange?

The invitation did give helpful instructions to guests on where to land their private planes and helicopters, so heavies were expected. (Helicopters? Wasn't there a Wikileaks video about that once?) But according to an activist who was present there was "no sign of Branjelina or any helicopters."

Hopefully Assange had a good time at the party, even without Angelina Jolie. Tomorrow, he's appearing in court to fight attempts by Sweden to extradite him to face rape allegations. [The Independent via Atlantic Wire, image via AP]