Noel Godin, celebrity pie-thrower, dies at 80

Belgian comedian Noel Godin, known for throwing custard pies at celebrities including Jean-Luc Godard and Bill Gates, has died at the age of 80, his partner Sylvie Broodthaers said Monday.

Broodthaers said Godin died on Sunday morning.

Godin was nicknamed “the Glooper” for shouting “Gloop! Gloop!” after his pie attacks. He described himself as an “anarcho-confectioner” and spent more than three decades targeting rich and famous figures he believed should be brought down a notch.

His first pie attack was against author Marguerite Duras in 1969. Later targets included future French president Nicolas Sarkozy in 1997 and Microsoft boss Bill Gates in 1998.

Godin told AFP in 2021 that he refused paid requests to target celebrities, saying: “We're not mercenaries.” He described his actions as “a burlesque form of pacifism” and said they bruised only the victims' egos.

A 2002 pie attack on French presidential candidate Jean-Pierre Chevenement at the Paris book fair led to Godin being convicted and fined. His case went to France's top court, where he lost his final appeal.

Godin's most frequent target was French philosopher Bernard Henri-Levy, who was hit eight times between 1985 and 2015, not counting copycat attacks elsewhere.