Rupert Murdoch’s wife punches pie-throwing protester

Yesterday, during his testimony before parliament, Rupert Murdoch was attacked with a pie made of shaving cream. Seated behind him, his wife Wendi Deng Murdoch immediately leapt out of her chair to punch the pie-throwing culprit. Deng sat behind her husband in a neatly tailored pink jacket and appeared aggravated by the questioning from News of the World‘s former editor Rebekah Brooks of her husband and his son James. The British parliament is conducting an investigation of phone hacking by Murdoch’s now closed News of the World tabloid.

Ms. Murdoch’s actions towards the protestor were labeled “fighting back” by Fox News, who applauded a wife standing by her man in a situation other than a political sex scandal. Fox describes Wendi’s actions as heroic saying that, “…future pranksters, beware. Faster than a speeding bullet, able to leap tall hearing tables with a single bound. It’s a bird; it’s a plane… No, it’s Super Wendi! My hero.”

Someone should point out to Fox News that this phone-hacking scandal which has taken the UK by storm has yet to fully explode on our shores, as reports surface that Murdoch-owned publications hacked into the cell phones of 9/11 victim’s families. Is Wendi going to also punch a pie-throwing 9/11 family member? Would Fox News still call her a hero?

The Daily Beast wrote about the incident under the title, Crouching Tiger, Flying Murdoch, likely referring to Ms. Murdoch’s Chinese roots. Nice way to play the race card, DB.

Ms. Murdoch’s actions definitely stand out in a world of media and politics where wives stoically stand by their powerful husbands and the audience is forced to imagine what thoughts are going through their minds at any moment. What’s troubling is the references to Mrs. Murdoch’s ethnicity as if that has something to do with her reaction to flying shaving cream. Furthermore, why is she being praised for this behavior? I don’t think Michelle Obama or Nancy Pelosi would be praised by Fox News for their “heroic” actions in responding to a white foam pie thrower.

What do you think of the media coverage of Mrs. Murdoch and the punch heard around the world?