Belgian Pie-Thrower Noël Godin Dies at Age 80

Noël Godin, the Belgian provocateur who spent more than five decades hurling cream pies at celebrities, politicians, and public figures he deemed too arrogant, died on Sunday at the age of 80. His companion, Sylvie Broodthaers, confirmed the news to AFP, saying he died early Sunday morning.

Born in Liège on September 13, 1945, Godin became a beloved cultural icon in Belgium and beyond through his theatrical “attentats pâtissiers” — pie attacks targeting the powerful and famous, whom he dubbed “pompeux cornichons” (pompous pickles).

A Life of Subversive Humor

Godin’s journey to becoming “l’entarteur” (the pie-thrower) began in the late 1960s. While working as a film critic for a Belgian cinema magazine, he discovered the fictional character Georges Le Gloupier, created by French journalist Jean-Pierre Bouyxou. Godin adopted the persona and began writing fake news stories about the imaginary pie-thrower, including a fabricated attack on director Robert Bresson, as RTL Info reported.

From fiction, Godin moved to reality. His first actual pie-throwing incident came in December 1969, when he targeted writer Marguerite Duras at the University of Louvain. Over the following decades, his “victims” would include film directors Marco Ferreri and Jean-Luc Godard, singer Patrick Bruel, politicians Nicolas Sarkozy and Jean-Pierre Chevènement, and media figures Patrick Poivre d’Arvor and Pascal Sevran.

The Most Famous Coup: Bill Gates

Godin’s most celebrated attack came on February 4, 1998, when he and his accomplices pied Microsoft founder Bill Gates in Brussels. The action, carried out under heavy security, captured worldwide attention and inspired pie-throwing brigades across the globe, which Godin called the “Internationale pâtissière” (Pastry Internationale).

Reflecting on the Gates attack in an interview with L’Avenir, Godin recalled: “In the whole history of the pastry saga, it was the first time we were confronted with a machine gun. Everyone was warned to avoid bad surprises. I had asked the accomplices to smile as much as possible and shout Gloup-gloup to avoid any mishap.”

Bernard-Henri Lévy: The Favorite Target

No figure was more closely associated with Godin’s pie-throwing crusade than French philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy, who was pied eight times between 1985 and 2015. Their first encounter in 1985 at RTBF studios in Liège became legendary when Lévy reacted violently, throwing Godin to the ground and threatening to crush his face with his heel — a scene captured on film and widely circulated.

Godin explained his fixation on Lévy in a 2015 interview with Les Inrocks: “He will always remain for us the pie-head par excellence. He is the incarnation of power in all its horror and our hair is particularly bristled by his navel-gazing arrogance.”

Remarkably, Lévy himself acknowledged a certain dependence on his tormentor. In an AFP interview in 2021, he said: “To tell the truth, when he’s no longer here, I’ll be at a loss.”

Author, Critic, and Cultural Figure

Beyond the pies, Godin was a prolific author and film critic. His “Anthologie de la subversion carabinée” (1988), a massive anthology of subversive writing, was reissued in 2026 by Noir sur Blanc. He also wrote his memoirs “Crème et châtiment” (1995) and “Entartons, entartons les pompeux cornichons!” (2005), as La Libre noted in its obituary.

Godin appeared in films by Belgian director Jan Bucquoy, including “La Vie sexuelle des Belges” and “Camping Cosmos,” and was a beloved figure at the Groland festival in France, where he was considered a star among iconoclastic spirits.

His last notable victim was Michael O’Leary, CEO of Ryanair, pied in Brussels in September 2023. The Internationale Pâtissière claimed responsibility with the statement: “As long as you flood us with CO2, we will flood you with whipped cream.”

Legal Battles and Legacy

Despite decades of pie-throwing, only one person successfully sued Godin: French politician Jean-Pierre Chevènement, who obtained a conviction in 2002, resulting in a fine of €800, later increased to €2,500 on appeal.

Godin’s philosophy was summed up in his own words from the TV show “Strip-Tease”: “In humor, you always have to know how far you can go too far.” His signature battle cry during attacks — “Entartons, entartons les pompeux cornichons!” (Let’s pie, let’s pie the pompous pickles!) — became part of Belgian cultural folklore.

As tributes pour in from across Europe, the RTS noted that Godin’s example inspired imitators worldwide, cementing his legacy as the master of a uniquely theatrical form of protest. His death marks the end of an era for Belgian counterculture — a man who turned a simple dessert into a weapon of satire against the pompous and powerful.

Noël Godin died in Brussels on August 23, 2026. He would have turned 81 on September 13.