In case you’re wondering why everything seems so slow today in the gossip world, it’s because literally EVERYONE is focused on Rupert and James Murdoch’s testimony before a Parliamentary committee in London today, all about the ongoing hacking scandal. For those of us on the East Coast, the junk started this morning at 9 am, and has gone throughout the day. It makes me wish that I had asked for the day off, because even though the British politicians are much too polite and even though James and Rupert Murdoch don’t appear to actively be monsters, the testimony process is absolutely fascinating. Also interesting? The familial dynamics. I feel like Rupert is incredibly protective of his son James, and James is incredibly protective of his father.
You know what bugs? Even though I’m not going to cover the epic-ness of what’s going down at this committee hearing, I appreciate the fact that it’s going down, and I enjoy the seriousness of what’s going down. What I don’t appreciate is when some dumbass actually makes me feel pity for an 80-year-old warmongering jackass. A few hours ago, British comedian Johnnie Marbles attacked Rupert with a plate of shaving cream, just after he tweeted, “It is a far better thing that I do now than I have ever done before #splat”. Wendi Dang-Murdoch, Rupert’s young wife who was (and is) sitting behind Rupert during his testimony, had lightening-fast reflexes and she screamed “NO! NO!” and smacked the sh-t out of Johnnie Marbles. The dude was arrested and the proceedings were interrupted, etc. Here’s video:
Literally NO ONE had sympathy for Rupert Murdoch before this. Now he’s some poor, out-of-it old fart who was attacked by a beatnik loser.
Here’s video of Rupert talking about how this is the most “humbling day” of his life. Later on, a female politician misquoted him and said it was the “most humiliating” day of his life:
Photos courtesy of WENN & Pacific Coast News.
And a man died because of these people.
Well it wasn’t the “Murdochalypse” I was hoping for.
The questioning was weak. Their answers were slippery and the two of them plead ignorance throughout with Rupert hiding behind James when he had the chance while looking bored and detached.
And no the Foam Pie didn’t make me feel sorry for him.
Live links to proceedings, please?
And he really deserved to be hit in the face with a serious cow-pie, not a foam-pie.
I still have no sympathy. This man is evil, shaving creme shoved in his face or not. Also, security anyone? How’d the guy get close enough to slap Murdoch in the face with a pie?
Wendi Deng (wife)smacked the hell out comedian/activist Jonnie Marbles, I have no remorse or pity for Murdoch – their apologies are too late in the making and it does not seem genuine
I saw the video on CNN. Murdoch’s wife gave the pie thrower the smack down.
@ gloaming: Agreed.
What kind of a person attacks physically a man who is so old?
Didn’t it even cross his mind that he might have a heart attack and die, because of it?
I am sorry. There is a very clear line and you do not touch or attack a person physically.
Especially an old person.
That’s his wife? Oh how the mighty have fallen, now she’s really gonna start earning her keep.
ugh i agree– this man was viewed as evil until this happened. now its poor old man. he deserved a hell of a lot more than a pie to the face.
also– i find it laughable that when asked why he did certain sketchy things (entering through the back door of the PM and judges residence) his answer is “i did what i was told” and yet he expects everyone else to believe that the hackers weren’t just doing what they were told but were acting independently? bullshit.
Murdoch deserves the smack down, not the poor guy with the shaving cream pie or the poor guy who showed up dead yesterday. Piers Morgan went on his show and defended him to the death. But of course this guy also worked for his slimy papers, both NOTW and the Mirror, from which he was fired for running fake photos of British military abusing Iraqi prisoners. He is just as creepy as his former boss.
Another interesting fact arose as Chewbakka Brookes was being questioned earlier regarding Jude Law’s new law suit against News International.
They put it to Chewbakka that Jude’s phone was hacked on American soil which I’m sure will be of interest to the F.B.I. She of course pleaded ignorance…..
No sympathy here. The man is an evil conniving criminal. I wouldn’t be surprised if this incident occured specifically to garner sympathy FOR murdoch.
Those two, father and son, are lying, plain and simple, even if the questions left very much to be desired.
And David Cameron, Rebekah Brooks, and a handful of others are very shady too.
I only hope someone is going to spill the beans on all of them, fast.
this really is the story that keeps on giving
now the metropolitan police have admitted that a signifant number of their press people worked for News International, it’s just outrageous!
tony blair spoke to Murdoch several times in the two weeks before the war in Iraq started, checking that he would get the backing of the Murdoch media, unbelievable
@ Quest – I said before (when this mess first started to be r-e-a-l-l-y public): Murdoch is only trying to mitigate the damages, both personally and financially. That’s why he dissolved NOTW; hard to sue an “institution” that no longer exists.
I certainly hope ALL the victims of this mess reek absolute havoc on Murdoch’s empire. The “dark lord” indeed.
ps how about james in hot dong friday?
I saw his wife slap the crap out of the guy.
that being said.. he is fortunate it was a pie.. I think there are some people out there that are going to be very angry and he and his son may need protection. That pie could have had acid or anything in it.
I saw part of the testimony and they are both liars and it was obvious.
Let’s put the cast for this because you know HW is already writing the script.
Tilda Swinton should play R.Brooks.
I still don’t feel any sympathy for him whatsoever.
I have no sympathy for Murdoch either. I do, however, have a newfound respect for his wife! I just asked Mr. Bluhare if he wanted to bet me on how fast she’d file for divorce, and now I think i might have made a bad bet!
This is going to be huge. Huge. He’s going to lose it all. And some VERY big people are going down.
@ the original bellaluna: You sure did call it.
Too bad it wasn’t a brick. Two, actually, one for Rupert & one for his gold-digging “bride”.
I put him in the same league as Dick Cheney – pure, unadulterated evil.
political and social commentary aside, his wife came at crazy like a ninja. (that is not in any way racist)
i have to say i am intrigued to see what will come of this questioning and further investigations. murdoch has held a monopoly on the news media (which he rightfully purchased) and has been allowed to operate as such for the last 2 decades. im not sure why the behavior of his operations, sources, and holdings are just now coming into question since it has been well known that they are involved in seedy/unethical behavior. it would be interesting to see this play out to his holdings in the united states (ie-fox etc) he has been brought up in already closed lawsuits stemming form a company he own that paid for information to shut out coupon and direct mailing competitors. rather than go to trial which could then be turned into an antitrust case, the sister company shut it down. i think they paid 650 million to settle the suit and make it go away, which of course it did. it doesnt seem that this is out of the ordinary for his holdings to operate like this, with his assumed knowledge. will it be call for a break up of the assets or a reassessment of what how our media behaves as far as “active reporting”, there by taking action against fox news broadcasting claims or their present mis information diatribes? we’re talking michael clayton type shit, but larger and more far reaching.
i think im firmly on the guy with the pies side.
coucou (8) -“That’s his wife? Oh how the mighty have fallen, now she’s really gonna start earning her keep.”
Something tells me this isn’t the first time she’s gone down to protect her money train.
I can see what Kaiser is saying. Many people may view this and pity this geriatric scumbag. I don’t. I think he deserves this and more. He violated people’s rights to privacy and used personal communications as the basis of his news stories.
The lesson to be learned here is for the regular people like us. Our information is not private and can be tapped into. Your phones, messages, IMs, Facebook, Twitter, etc. can be hacked. Be cautious. If it can happen to Milly Dowler, Jude, Sienna, Blake, the Windsors, and on and on, it can happen to you too.
And the journo who first spilled the beans on the hacking was found DEAd this morning.
Could have OD’d. Still it’s scary.
He probably hired the pie- thrower, told his wife to go all Michelle Leoh.
Evil Grandpa deserves much, much worse.
Gotta love how his wife gets up and smacks the guy in the face!
But Murdoch had to know this was going on right since it went so high up and involved Scotland Yard? If he didnt I feel for him but I just think he had to know and either way its his company so the blame falls on him.
So besides sleeping with the crusty bastard, Wendi is earning every penny of her goldigga cash smacking down Johnnie volleyball spike-style.
I am in no way fooled by the “I’m just an old, doddering man” BS. I don’t think too many other people are, either. I think what is coming in 2012 is partially about the dissolution of corrupt institutions of power like his. Burn, Murdoch, burn.
Apparently there were thousands of hacking victims; everyone from celebrities, politicians, the London bombing victims, the 9/11 victims. It’s gross that this old crone owns 1/3 of the world’s media. It’s gross that in every country his stations and newspapers advocate cutting social services and unrestrained capitalism. It’s gross that because he is so rich and so powerful he can get away with violating people’s rights. It’s gross that he basically bought off Scotland Yard. It’s gross that his stations ruined the names and reputations of people who were eventually proved honest (WMD anyone?) It’s gross that the only person he didn’t buy off was found dead yesterday before he could testify against him. Even worse, the same police who Murdoch has been paying off are now “investigating” his death. They say that there was “nothing suspicious” about one of the few key witnesses in a massive media scandal turning up dead. Murdoch deserves hell if there is one, and no I don’t feel bad for a second that the disgusting POS got hit in the face with a pie. No one here should, he has billions of dollars to clean off with. I pray for justice.
whoa i missed this journalist showing up dead???
i’ll have to go research that.
um, no, he did NOT OD…
please, that’s what they *always* say-suicide, OD, etc.
oh they took him out. I would bet money on that….
I would think it would be humbling to have to publicly answer for years and years of illegal, unethical and immoral behavior. Demoralized workers who have to accept your paychecks (or go unemployed and with honor) because there’s no legitimate/honorable news publications willing to blow the whistle for fear of what it will bring.
You should be humbled, Murdoch. But you should also lose your empire.
Save your pity for the victims of the phone hacking like the Dowler family who were given false hope their daughter was still alive due to her phone messages being deleted by the NOTW.
These characters represent all that is wrong with the western culture, corruption has run deep in our countries for far too long.
I don’t know if any of you can access the bbc iplayer outside the Uk, but if you can last night’s Panaroma gives a good but brief summary of the history leading up to this mess.
I’m with Nanea I hope some one is going to spill the beans on Cameron, Brookes and the Murdochs.
He is a bad man who deserves far worse than what hell get, I’m sure.
That being said, I am kind of impressed watching his wife lunge like that. She has some instincts on her.
The most “humbling day of his life”? Yes, it was totally inappropriate, but for God’s sake, it was shaving cream.
I don’t feel the least bit bad for the jack-ass. I hope everything he ate afterwards had a bitter menthol aftertaste.
I just read the huffington post and there was a column on Piers Morgan and Murdoch. People posting and commenting here should check it out.
I truly think that people’s opinions on this matter are shaped by their political leanings. If you are right leaning you are less apt to throw Murdoch under the bus until all of the information has been examined. If you are Left leaning you immediately want him tried in the court of public opinion and have him immediately hung on hearsay.
The charges are quite serious and should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law which,if found guilty, should include some lengthy Jail time.
I also wonder why so many people who are calling for Murdoch’s head are fully supportive of Julian Assange who admits and prides himself on hacking??
Why is Assange worthy of their adoration?I also have observed that Assange’s followers are quite left leaning.
I watched most the testimony and it felt like I was watching a Simpsons episode where Mr. Burns decides it’s better to act like an out-of-touch, semi senile head of the company vs. facing criminal charges. I didn’t buy it. Not even his son James’ (aka Smithers) attempts to “spare his father”.
@gloaming LMAO at your name for Brooks. Chewbacca indeed! Wonder if her legal team will use South Park’s “Chewbacca Defense”!!!!
lynch ’em!
Someone died because of this rancid piece of nasty old beef jerky.
“DID YOU ORDER THE CODE RED?!” 😉
My conspiracy theory….
…..based on the fact that Murdoch (or at least his companies) have paid the met police for info and also have ‘links’ with a number of MP’s my theory is that when the questions were getting too much the ‘Pie Man’ was ready to distract and make everyone feel sorry for the doddery old man who’s been hit with shaving foam.
Slowest policeman on earth and the Pie Man have now received their brown packages full of cash from the Murdochs!
oh no, Brad Pitt’s walking with a guy…
@lilibet1 – the same thought crossed my mind:)
WOW!, This is a tough crowd today. Usually, you only see this much venom when there’s a discussion about Leann’s squinty eyes or a red carpet dress that hangs poorly.
For me, I don’t know enough facts about the situation to form a strong opinion. But, I do find it hard to believe that that at least one of the Murdoch’s didn’t know anything about the illegal and immoral activities of their employees.
That said, I was impressed by the speed and agility of Ms Murdoch. Kudos to you and kudos to James. He’s hot. He should be very poplar in prison.
Wendi earned her keep by setting up his China empire. She’s not just a gold digger. She’s pretty smart and educated (Yale).
However the smack down was hilarious and even though I think he is a piece of garbage you just don’t do that to an old man.
It was a stupid stunt, but I still have no sympathy for Murdoch. None. I hope he gets sued up the ass for his creepy empire.
“Plausible deniability” does NOT equal lack of responsibility.
It was a stunt. A distraction. You the people are now deigned to feel sorry for the old man. To feel empathy for the young wife defending her very old man. We are being duped, once again.
@ ADS – Stunt failed!
@ lrm – Time.com has some great coverage.
gotta wonder how much rupert’s minions paid this a-hole to pie him…
I have no sympathy for this sleazeball. None. At. ALL.
@Hahn Wendy Murdoch is Queen of all Golddiggahs! Just because you went toYale doesn’t mean you can’t be as much a goldiggah as those chickenheads on Basketball Wives.
Too bad it wasn’t a poop pie.
I’ve got a feeling this is just the tip of the iceberg. Anybody want to place bets on whether or not this mess brings Cameron’s government down?
Sympathy for this shit excuse for a human being, yeah, riiiight.
I don’t give a rats ass how old this “man” is, NO sympathy from me when considering WHO he is, and What he represents and condones. I also smell a rancid rat where David Cameron is concerned.
Rot in hell, Murdoch and Co.
I agree AngelMay. A chickenhead with a degree and pedigree is still a chickenhead. Wendi’s just playing in the big leagues.
IT REALLY DOES LOOK LIKE SETUP. Why the son just stayed sitting at his chair. He didn’t even get Up, when he saw somebody running at his father. Poor young wife was not informed, so she really protected him, she didn’t know what is it, harmless or not. It is like son knew, there was nothing dangerous, like Acid, there. He stayed sitting at his place, and looked like pretecting his suit.
I do agree, if it wasn’t fake act to have sympaties, then it is not ok physicly punish, so old man, even if he moore than deserve it.
And also, a man died becose them. It should get moore media attencion.
Sadly I think the Murdochs will weasel their way out of this. If they had nothing to hide why did they have to spend hours rehearsing what they were going to say with their lawyers?
I heard Murdoch’s biographer on the radio this morning and he was very scathing about Murdoch. And he said that Murdoch spent a lot of time on the phones micro managing his London based newspapers. So it beggars belief that he didn’t know what was going on. I also find the way the media have glossed over the death of the whistle blower a little disturbing.
yeah, james is mine bitches.
rupert pulled out the uncle leo (seinfeld)/junior (sopranos) defense.
i’m pretty obsessed with conglomerations, so this is like porn to me.
What a disgusting man, complete with disgusting golddigger.
Seriously, no one is going to feel bad that the man got a bit of whipped cream of him. Seriously. No. One.
Shaving cream gets no sympathy for me. If they attack his young children that would concern me.
“Apparently there were thousands of hacking victims; everyone from celebrities, politicians, the London bombing victims, the 9/11 victims”
Just so people understand some of this is “attempted” hacking or attempted illegal access. I don’t believe they have any evidence of actually hacking into 911 victims but correct me if I’m wrong. They did however try to bribe a police official for the phone records of victims.
The US has a federal law which makes it a crime for a US executive to commit a crime in the conduct of business overseas – even when that conduct occurs overseas and not on US soil as usually required.
The crimes of bribing police officials, illegal phone tampering, and other acts in the UK are going to destroy Murdoch’s empire. He is a US executive – the Wall Street Journal is a US corporation. You do the math.
I wonder if we’ll hear any evidence of industrial espionage, no way he taps phones for headlines and not to find information on stocks and other companies. The Wall Street Journal makes and breaks stocks every day, the possibility of making money is what keeps his black heart pumping.
I don’t buy the doddering old fool act for a second.
There were thousands of victims in the UK, they released a list of names, numbers, and emails that had definitely been hacked. There is some hacking evidence on possible US victims. Enough for the FBI to open an investigation. Just recently Jude Law said his phone was tapped WHILE he was in the US. Fingers crossed they are better than Scotland Yard.
Murdoch has bragged before about knowing everything about what goes on at news corp, I find it very hard to believe he could run the company with an iron fist, but not know about things like Elle Macpherson suing his company for hacking her phone in Australia. She sued and got 700,000 pounds and a style show on one of his networks for her silence. That there are allegations AND out of court settlements in the UK, the US, and Australia leads me to believe that this is common practice for his companies. They just buy off whoever doesn’t like it, or like the whistleblower they end up dead.
This whole business is very scary and should be taken seriously.
Murdoch and his minions have been murdering people’s sleep for a long while now; as such, I have absolutely no pity for his organisation. Breaching people’s privacy is highly reprehensible especially where medical records are concerned and the Dowler episode in particular. On a side note, I do think Wendi was superb in warding off the attack on Rupert.
Cheyenne, that seriously made my day! Poop pie? Brilliant! How much funnier would that have been?
How can a young woman marry an elderly lech like that? Not even homelessness and pennilessness is an excuse. What takes my eyes off the story is the photo of them together. It is truly disgusting. What must he look like in the nude? First thing in the a.m? Very sick. Maybe she’s just a trophy wife and nil else.
I think Murdoch’s wife has connections with the media in the Far East/China, so he’s got the chance to expand his media empire over there now.
Avaaz have started a few online campaigns against Murdoch. If you would like to support them click on these links to sign the petitions:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/stop_the_murdoch_mafia_2/?vc
http://www.avaaz.org/en/stop_murdochs_monopoly/?vl
The Brits seem so civilized and like rules, but I love Prime Ministers Quesitons in the House of Commons. Cameron is having a bit of a going over today and I love the cat calls and other not nice sounds. But this is not that unusual, but today the booing and catcalls are much worse. I think he may have to hold a special election soon. It goes beyond Murdoch. At some point Fox is going to have to cover this and more than making a hero of his wife for protecting him.
Yeah let’s get rid of Murdoch..after all he is the only one exposing the Socialist agenda. Did anyone see all of the Socialists parading outside of the meeting yesterday with their little Socialist signs??
Good to see so many here who would love to do physical harm to an old man. What a piece of shite!
Wendi Is a work herself. I posted before about how she went from a poor chinese student playing vball, causing an affair. marrying for a visa. she’s the modern femme fatale.
@JLF – “Good to see so many here who would love to do physical harm to an old man. What a piece of shite!”
Most of us wouldn’t personally attack an elderly person, & agreed that it was inappropriate. (Not everyone, obviously, but most.) But I don’t think there’s anything wrong with simply being of the opinion that he’s done plenty of things that make us completely unable to feel sorry for him. Plus I do think a lot of people overreacted entirely. It was shaving cream… Surely it could’ve been worse.
His wife first got helped with her English by an American woman, who helped her get to America and let her stay in her house while she studied.
Wendy then had an affair with her husband, married him for the Green card and very soon had an affair with someone else.
What a piece of work.