Jonathan Pie is a fictional comedic character portrayed by British comedian Tom Walker. Written by Walker and Irish comedian Andrew Doyle, Pie is a political correspondent who rants angrily about

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

, and

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

politics, giving his true personal opinions before or after filming a scripted news segment.

History

The first spoof news report featuring Pie, released just after the election of

Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the political left of the Labour Party, Corbyn describes himself as a socialist ...

as leader of the Labour Party in September 2015, was responding to mainstream media reports that gave particular weight to Corbyn's past relationship with

Diane Abbott Diane Julie Abbott (born 27 September 1953) is a British politician who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Hackney North and Stoke Newington since 1987. A member of the Labour Party, she served in the Shadow Cabinet of Jeremy Corbyn as Sh ...

. Walker was soon approached by several media companies, including

RT UK RT UK, also known as Russia Today, was a free-to-air television news channel based in the United Kingdom. It was part of the RT network, a Russian state-controlled international television network funded by the federal tax budget of the Russia ...

. He worked with RT for several months before leaving in July 2016, just before his appearance at the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

in August. The character received international coverage after the 2016 American presidential election, when his comments on

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

's victory went viral and became a

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

trending video. As of 2022 the video had more than 4.5 million views, double that of the second-most popular. Pie has occasionally appeared as the

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

correspondent for the Australian satirical news and current events programme ''

The Weekly with Charlie Pickering ''The Weekly with Charlie Pickering'' is an Australian news satire series on the ABC. The series premiered on 22 April 2015, featuring Charlie Pickering as host with Tom Gleeson, Adam Briggs and Judith Lucy in the cast who joined the show i ...

''. Pie went on his second tour in 2018 with ''Back to the Studio''. He performed 45 dates in the UK, five dates in Australia, and six dates in the US. In January 2020, a collaboration with environmental filmmaker

Franny Armstrong Franny Armstrong (born 3 February 1972) is a British documentary film director working for her own company, Spanner Films, and a former drummer with indie pop group The Band of Holy Joy. She is best known for three films: ''The Age of Stupid'', ...

led to a 13-minute mockumentary called ''Pie Net Zero''. Some episodes, including the post-US election episode, were co-written with Andrew Doyle. Doyle's contribution began when the live show started. In February 2022, Pie made his first of several appearances on ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' website and YouTube channel as part of their "opinion" section. These videos comment on UK politics for an American audience. Topics have included

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...

, the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

and the influence of Russian oligarchs' investments and political donations, as well as the UK

energy crisis An energy crisis or energy shortage is any significant bottleneck in the supply of energy resources to an economy. In literature, it often refers to one of the energy sources used at a certain time and place, in particular, those that supply n ...

, rising inflation, and labour strikes during the Conservative Party leadership election of Prime Minister

Liz Truss Mary Elizabeth Truss (born 26 July 1975) is a British politician who briefly served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from September to October 2022. On her fiftieth day in office, she stepped down ...

Appearances

Live tours

Filmography

Bibliography

References

External links

*
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pie, Jonathan English YouTubers Fictional characters introduced in 2015 Fictional English people Fictional reporters 2015 establishments in England