Pamela Anderson has accused Scott Morrison of making "smutty" and "unnecessary" comments about her after she appealed to the prime minister to defend Julian Assange.
The former Baywatch star earlier this month called for Mr Morrison to support the WikiLeaks founder, who has been holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London for six years.
"Defend your friend and get Julian his passport back and take him back to Australia and be proud of him and throw him a parade when he gets home," Anderson requested of Mr Morrison through the Nine Network's 60 Minutes.
The prime minister later chuckled loudly in an interview after being asked if intended to heed the star's advice, before simply replying: "No."
"I've had plenty of mates who have asked me if they can be my special envoy to sort the issue out with Pamela Anderson," he told Gold Coast radio station Hot Tomato FM.
"But putting that to one side, the serious issue is no, our position on that hasn't changed."
In an open letter published on her website, Ms Anderson has said the comments were "disappointing".
"You trivialized and laughed about the suffering of an Australian and his family. You followed it with smutty, unnecessary comments about a woman voicing her political opinion," she wrote.
The star said people deserve better from their political leaders and that Mr Assange is not "getting a fair go".
"Rather than making lewd suggestions about me, perhaps you should instead think about what you are going to say to millions of Australians when one of their own is marched in an orange jumpsuit to Guantanamo Bay - for publishing the truth. You can prevent this."
Mr Assange took refuge in Ecuador's embassy in 2012, after British courts ordered his extradition to Sweden to face questioning in a sexual molestation case.
The case was dropped but supporters have said Assange fears leaving the embassy in case he's extradited to the United States over WikiLeaks' publication of US diplomatic and military secrets.
Court filings made public by mistake in the US last week indicate that Assange has been indicted in secret by federal prosecutors in Alexandria, Virginia.
In October an Ecuadorian judge ruled against the 47-year-old's request to loosen new conditions of his ongoing stay at the embassy.
The new rules require the Australian pay for services like internet and laundry and care for his cat.
Australian Associated Press
