A man is held by police after he tried to attack News Corp Chief Executive and Chairman Rupert Murdoch during a parliamentary committee hearing on phone hacking at Portcullis House in London
A man is held by police after he tried to attack News Corp Chief Executive and Chairman Rupert Murdoch with a white substance during a parliamentary committee hearing on phone hacking at Portcullis House in London July 19, 2011. Murdoch was attacked by a protester on Tuesday while giving evidence to a British parliamentary committee at which he defended his son and his company over a scandal that has rocked the British establishment. REUTERS/UK Pool via Reuters TV REUTERS/UK Pool via Reuters TV

As the scandal hit media tycoon Rupert Murdoch's Tuesday's parliamentary committee hearing was progressing, a man calmly approached Murdoch and slapped a plate of shaving cream in his face and shouted, You are a greedy billionaire.

Wendi Deng, Murdoch's wife, and his son James Murdoch promptly defended the attacker with Deng, a former volleyball player, slapping the assailant.

According to a Sky News report the attacker is a comedian named Jonnie Marbles, who tweeted this shortly before the incident: It is a far better thing that I do now than I have ever done before #splat.

Marbles has done some standup comedy gigs in the U.K. during the past year, but going by his blog and online bios, he's more of an activist than comedian. Marbles' Twitter bio describes him as Activist, comedian, father figure and all-round nonsense. Tweeting in an impersonal capacity.

Marbles was removed from the committee room and the hearing resumed shortly after the incident.

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Courtesy: SkyNews

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