You are using an outdated browser.
Please upgrade your browser
and improve your visit to our site.
Skip Navigation

INCOMING! A Video History of Pies, Shoes, Eggs, and More Hurled at Public Figures

On Tuesday, Parliament’s hearing on News Corp was abruptly interrupted after a protester rushed toward Rupert Murdoch and tried to hit him in the face with shaving cream. The protester was identified as British comedian Jonnie Marbles, who tweeted about his intentions before the attack. “It is a far better thing that I do now than I have ever done before (at)splat,” he tweeted, riffing off Charles Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities. The incident caused an uproar, but Murdoch was certainly not the first public figure to be “creamed,” so to speak. Here’s a collection of other airborne attacks, by pie, glitter, shoe, and more, caught on tape. 

Ann Coulter

Ann Coulter was pied by “Al Pieda” operatives Phillip Edgar Smith and William Zachary Wolff during a speech at the University of Arizona in 2004.

Bill Gates

Bill Gates was pied in 1998 in Belgium by prankster Noel Godin, also known as “L’entarteur,” or “the Pieman.” Gates did not press charges.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn

A student journalist was tackled to the ground after hurling a shoe at DSK in Istanbul in 2009. 

Tony Blair

Anti-war protesters threw eggs and shoes at Tony Blair during a book-signing in Dublin last year.

George Bush

President Bush surprised Americans with his quick reflexes after dodging a shoe thrown at him by an Iraqi journalist in 2008.

Anita Bryant

Singer, beauty queen, and anti-gay activist Anita Bryant was hit with a pie in Des Moines in 1977. She replied, “At least it was a fruit pie.”

Newt Gingrich

A gay rights activist targeted Gingrich with a “glitter bomb” during a book signing earlier this year.

Tim Pawlenty

Pawlenty was also glitter-bombed during a book signing for Courage to Stand. The protesters shouted, “Tim Pawlenty, where is your courage to stand for gay rights and reproductive rights?”

Michele Bachmann

Bachmann couldn’t escape the glitter bombs either. She was hit by a gay rights activist at an event last month.

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Schwarzenegger was hit with an egg during a campaign event in 2003.    

Justin Bieber

A concertgoer hurled a water bottle at the infamous tween pop star during a concert in Sacramento in 2009.

Thomas Friedman

Environmental protesters pied Friedman during an event at Brown University in 2008. The students were referred to the Brown Department of Public Safety.

Bill Kristol

A student pied Kristol during a speech at Earlham College in 2005.

Related Slides:

Click here to read Jonathan Chait’s take on political pie-throwing.

Click here to read about the top 10 moments from the “News of the World” hearing.

Click here to see the public figures from the News Corp scandal as Harry Potter characters.