During a Parliament hearing regarding the News Corp phone hacking scandal, Rupert Murdoch was attacked by a publicity hound who didn't think Murdoch had gotten his "Just Desserts." Jonnie Marbles, as identified by his Twitter account, didn't get a direct hit on Murdoch with his shaving cream-filled projectile, but was slapped in the face by Murdoch's wife, Wendi Deng, after trying, according to The Telegraph. Deng then picked up the pie and tried to rebuke Marbles with his own pastry.
A pie to the face is about as original as a whoopee cushion, but is still one of the preferred methods of pranking highly publicized celebrities, especially political figures (particularly in Canada). The act is far more degrading and sinister than most pranks, and is often followed by the victim filing assault charges. Here are the top three victims of this age-old slapstick.
Carl Levin
A Michigan State student named Ahlam Mohsem took the pie-o-lence to another level in August 2010 when she decided to shove a Dutch apple pie into the face of Sen. Carl Levin. Mohsem stated that her motive was to protest Levin's support of war crimes by Israel. Mohsem was charged with assault and battery, as well as disorderly conduct. An accomplice who yelled at Levin moments before the pieing was also arrested. Surprisingly Levin was unshaken, saying that he preferred blueberry pie.
Ralph Nader
Ralph Nader was pelted with a pie while filming an endorsement for the Green Party's Peter Camejo during California's recall election for governor in September 2003. KTXL reports Nader instinctively picked up remnants of the pie and threw it back at the culprit, who escaped out of a side door and was not apprehended.
Camejo suspected that rather than Bugs Bunny, Democrats who were jealous of the Green Party's growing popularity were to blame. It turned out that Nader took the pie for nothing, as Republican candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger won the special election, having his cake and eating it too.
Nicolas Sarkozy
Thomas King Forcade, Aron Kay, and the Biotic Baking Brigade are some names that come to mind when you think of infamous pie tossers. However, he most successful tart popper has to be Noel Godin. Godin's victims include Jean-Luc Godard, Bernard-Henri Levy, and Bill Gates. In 1997, Godin pied Nicolas Sarkozy a full decade before he became the president of France. Sarkozy is visibly upset by the incident, slinging the pastry off of his face but never missing a step while walking past the press.
Sarkozy was the mayor of the Parisian suburb Neuilly-sur-Seine at the time. Would he give up his current position as president to take back the prank? We will never know for sure how much it affected him, but we're sure to see another protester imitate the antics of the Three Stooges again, especially considering the ever-present army of cameras that have no doubt propelled Jonnie Marbles to short-lived fame.
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