Alan Joyce has been CEO of Australian airline Qantas for nearly a decade at this point, and in his stint at the company he has helped the brand reverse its flagging fortunes and post record profits. That made him a pretty good person to choose as the keynote speaker at a business leadership event this week in Perth. However, one obviously disgruntled man was clearly having none of it, and choose to express his distaste for Joyce by ambushing the businessman with a lemon meringue pie while he was delivering his address. This is the world you live in.
The incident was captured by local news reporters who were taping the address. The perpetrator, who by his appearance and actions closely resembles a Looney Tunes villain, approached Joyce from behind and slams the pie in his face. Joyce, rattled, manages something that sounds vaguely like “f*ck head…” as the offender scurries away.
The pie-sassin was apprehended by security and held until police arrived. Officers are reportedly investigating the incident but no actual motive has been revealed or even hinted at. Joyce, to his credit, handled the incident pretty well, and after getting cleaned up he returned to the stage and made light of the uncomfortable events.
The attack, as silly and peculiar as it was, has been roundly condemned by several Australian officials, including Immigration Minister Peter Dutton, who tweeted that perpetrator “should be ashamed.” Additional suspects Wile E. Coyote and Elmer Fudd are currently being sought for questioning.
