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Fact check: Airline CEO 'pied' in face in 2017, not over COVID-19 vaccination policies

Ella Lee   | Paste BN
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The claim: Airline CEO 'pied' for forcing COVID vaccines

Some on social media claim a video shows an airline CEO getting "just desserts" for his company's COVID-19 vaccine policies.

In a Feb. 8 TikTok posted to Facebook the same day, a pie is smashed into the face of Australian airline Qantas Group's CEO, Alan Joyce, while he gives a speech. 

"Airline CEO gets pied for forcing COVID vaccinations," text above the video reads. 

The video amassed more than 8,000 likes and 3,000 shares on Facebook; on TikTok, it received about 500 likes and 3,000 views.

But the pie-smashing incident had nothing to do with COVID-19. Though the video is real, Joyce was pied in 2017, long before the pandemic began. Reports at the time said the culprit was protesting the CEO's advocacy for same-sex marriage. 

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Paste BN reached out to the Facebook and TikTok users who shared the video for comment.

CEO pied in 2017, unrelated to vaccines

The pie-smash in question took place on May 8, 2017, while Joyce gave a keynote speech to about 500 people at a Business Leadership Matters event in Perth, Australia, according to Australia's ABC News. 

7News Brisbane posted the incident to its Facebook page the next day, describing it as "the moment a mystery attacker calmly shoved lemon meringue pie in the face of Qantas boss Alan Joyce."

At the time, the Associated Press reported that the culprit – a 67-year-old Christian and former sheep farmer named Tony Overheu – was protesting Joyce's advocacy for same-sex marriage. Overheu reportedly called companies supporting marriage equality "corporate bullying aimed at social engineering." 

Joyce, who is gay, said he would continue to be vocal about issues affecting his community.

"I have every intention to continue to be vocal on these social and community issues," Joyce told reporters at the time, according to AP. "It's important for our shareholders, our employees, our customers – it's called good corporate social responsibility."

Qantas Group does require all its employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19, but there's no tie between that policy and the pie-smash in the video.

PolitiFact and the AFP also reported on the claim.

Our rating: False

Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim that an airline CEO was "pied" for forcing COVID vaccines. Though the video is real, the pie-smashing incident had nothing to do with COVID-19. Joyce was pied in 2017, long before the pandemic began, and reports at the time said the culprit was protesting the CEO's advocacy for same-sex marriage.

Our fact-check sources:

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