Video of 'Enron CEO' getting hit in face with pie is part of satirical relaunch | Fact check
The claim: Video shows Enron CEO getting hit in the face with a pie
A Dec. 13 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) shows a man getting hit in the face by a pie in an image that is a screenshot of an X post.
“Enron’s new CEO was hit with a pie in NYC,” reads the X post's caption.
Several commenters said the video was satire, but others appeared to interpret it seriously.
“I bet for a second he thought he was dead,” one commenter wrote. Another said, "I hope we can keep this up."
The image was shared more than 1,000 times in about two weeks. Similar posts circulated on Threads and Instagram.
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Our rating: Satire
This post is satire on multiple levels. The "Enron CEO" shown in the image is a satirist who took over the Enron trademark as performance art, and the pie in the face appears to have been staged to resemble an infamous pie attack on Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.
Enron CEO part of satirical company rebrand
Enron was an energy trading company that filed for bankruptcy in 2001 amid revelations it had overstated its earnings. The FBI described the case as “the most complex white-collar crime investigation” in the agency’s history.
In 2021, an entity called The College Company LLC took over registration of the Enron trademark to sell clothing, according to federal patent and trademark filings. The application lists an email address containing Connor Gaydos' name as the primary contact. Gaydos and the College Company is also behind Birds Aren’t Real – a satirical faux-conspiracy theory suggesting birds no longer exist and were replaced by bird-like government drones to spy on citizens.
The Enron brand reemerged online in December, 23 years after the energy company filed for bankruptcy. Its new website describes the company as “nice” and “repentant,” and features a video of Gaydos introducing himself as the CEO.
Its use of parody is spelled out in the fine print. The site’s terms and conditions state, “The information on the website is First Amendment protected parody, represents performance art and is for entertainment purposes only."
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On Dec. 4, two days after the Enron brand reemerged, a gunman shot and killed UnitedHealth Care CEO Brian Thompson in Midtown Manhattan. The shooting stoked a national conversation surrounding health insurance ethics and political violence.
The pie video appears to have emerged about a week later. Several commenters compared the pie incident to the shooting.
“Luigi’s influence is spreading lol,” one commenter wrote under the Facebook post, presumably referencing the alleged shooter, Luigi Mangione.
The setup of the supposed Enron pie incident closely resembles an infamous 1998 incident in which Gates was hit in the face with a pie. In both cases the victim was walking from a street onto a sidewalk in a dense urban area when the person with the pie leaps out from behind a pillar.
A company has a pending application to use Enron’s trademark for cryptocurrency exchange, among other services.
The College Company also has a pending application to use the trademark for "educational and entertainment services," including "a continuing program about the dangers of corporatism and corporate greed."
Spokesman Will Chabot told the Washington Post that Enron would have more to share soon. As of Dec. 23, the company’s website featured a live countdown to a Jan. 6 event titled “The Enron Power Summit.”
Paste BN reached out to the media contact email address listed on Enron’s website but did not immediately receive a response. The account that posted the image on Facebook did not provide evidence supporting the claim when contacted by Paste BN.
Our fact-check sources
- Enron, accessed Dec. 20, Enron.com
- FBI, accessed Dec. 23, Famous cases and criminals: Enron
- Patent and Trademark Office, accessed Dec. 20, Trademark Status and Document Retrieval
- The New York Times, April 20, 1998, Brussels Journal; The Philosopher with a Pie, and a Glint in the Eye
- The Washington Post, Dec. 3, Enron brand returns online, but read the fine print
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