Bill Gates, a man used to having his cake and eating it too, today had his cake and wore it too.
Bill Gates, a man used to having his cake and eating it too, today had his cake and wore it too.
In Brussels, Belgium, to visit European Union officials, the Microsoft chairman was struck in the face with a cream pastry--a cake or possibly a pie--as he was entering a government building to give a speech on education. The prankster escaped, but one accomplice and a cameraman were taken into custody and later released after Belgian prankster Noel Godin appeared on television to take responsibility for the attack.
Gates will not press charges, according to a Microsoft spokeswoman.
Godin, a self-appointed anarchist, has made a name for himself targeting the rich, famous, and pompous with cream pies in public. His exploits have become so renowned that a French word has been coined to describe the act of being creamed: entarter.
Perhaps one of the most famous men in the French-speaking world, Godin himself is called "L'entarteur," or "the Pieman." He often appears on TV shows and films and is an author of a book about his exploits.
Those who take Godin's exploits with good humor are never bothered again. However, L'entarteur has been known to repeatedly target people who react with ill humor to his antics, what he calls the "revolt of laughter."
This may not be the last cream pie endured by Gates. The billionaire, who is said to dislike the touch of strangers, recently has made a concerted public relations push to come across as a likable, easygoing guy who can make fun of himself. "Oddly enough, [Godin] apparently complained that [Gates] didn't react strongly enough," the Microsoft spokeswoman said.
"This incident is very unfortunate, especially in light of the types of things Bill is trying to do," she added. "He later made a joke about how the cream didn't even taste that good."
The following CNN report is available from http://cnn.com/TECH/computing/9802/04/belgium.gates.ap/.
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) -- That's not egg on Bill Gates' face, it's cream.
The Microsoft chairman was hit in the face with a cream cake Wednesday in Brussels.
He was entering a building to meet with Belgian government officials. The Belgian news agency says one person distracted Gates' attention, while another threw the cream tart. It hit Gates right in the face, leaving cream all over his glasses.
The news agency says four to five people were involved and had a stack of cakes ready.
The one person who threw a cake got away, but police arrested another person and are questioning a third who filmed the event.
Microsoft said late Thursday it will not press charges.
Reuters reported that it was unclear if Noel Godin, a Belgian who hasmade a name for himself and a lucrative business out of hurling custard pies in the faces of the rich and famous, was behind the incident.
Bill Gates, the head of Microsoft and America's richest man, in Brussels yesterday after becoming the latest victim of Belgium's "custard-pie gang", a group of pranksters who have made a speciality of throwing pies at celebrities deemed guilty of self-importance. Mr Gates was emerging from a car after lunch when les entarteurs, who had been following him all morning, cornered him and landed at least two pies on his face and suit. Police arrested at least two people in the scuffle that followed. Responsibility for the "patisserie ambush" was claimed by Noel Godin, a Belgian who has become notorious for the well-organised custard pie attacks. Some of the continental media have been sniping at Mr. Gates as the embodiment of voracious American businessmen and at the regal style of his latest tour to meet European leaders.