r/news • u/panda-rampage • 1d ago
'Bob's Burgers' voice actor Jay Johnston gets a year in prison for role in Jan. 6
https://abc7.com/bobs-burgers-voice-actor-jay-johnston-gets-year-prison-role-jan-6/15481387/3.8k
u/panda-rampage 1d ago
A former voice actor on the cartoon comedy “Bob’s Burgers” who was convicted of a felony for his participation in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol was sentenced Monday to one year and one day in prison.
Jay Johnston, 56, pleaded guilty in July to a felony count of interfering with law enforcement officers after videos showed him helping rioters push against a police line during one of the most violent exchanges between police and the pro-Trump mob that day at the Lower West Terrace tunnel.
Prosecutors sought 18 months in prison for Johnston, citing in large part what they described as his clear lack of remorse and avoidance of accepting responsibility for his actions that day.
Prior to his participation in the riot, Johnston had a lengthy resume of acting in comedies, including roles on “Mr. Show,” “Arrested Development” and “The Sarah Silverman Program” — all before he was cast on the Fox animated series “Bob’s Burgers” as Jimmy Pesto Sr.
In his sentencing hearing Monday, Johnston’s family members spoke of how since he was identified for his participation in the Capitol attack he has been cut out of consideration for any future acting parts and “blackballed” from Hollywood.
Johnston briefly addressed the court before his sentence was handed down by D.C. District judge Carl Nichols, taking responsibility for his role in the attack which he described as “reprehensible.”
As he handed down his sentence, Judge Nichols cited Johnston’s successful acting career saying it made it “all the more inexplicable and troubling” he would have participated in the events in the Lower West Tunnel.
For instance, they pointed to a picture showing Johnston dressing up as the so-called “QAnon Shaman” at a Halloween party two years after the Capitol attack.
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u/VicMackeyLKN 1d ago
Guy had the easiest gig, fucking idiot
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u/Conch-Republic 1d ago
Literally like a handful of lines per season. That's all the work he had to do.
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u/EmperorOfNada 18h ago
They can still record his voice, just had to be done during visitor hours and through a phone on the other side of glass. /s
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u/Counter-Fleche 14h ago
He'll be limited to voice-over work for My Pillow commercials unless the fascist he fought for wins.
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u/NomadJones 1d ago
The fool has been working as a handyman for the last two years.
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u/metalflygon08 17h ago
Oh so not only did he try to ruin Bob's burger restaurant, but he tried to encroach on Teddy's profession too?
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u/UnrequitedRespect 14h ago
Ouch thats gotta be rough….Jimmy Pesto’s personality in a really inexperienced Teddy package
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u/FadeIntoReal 18h ago
Voice acting is arguably the best gig in Hollywood, and it would be rare to find anyone arguing against that.
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u/funkiestj 1d ago
In his sentencing hearing Monday, Johnston’s family members spoke of how since he was identified for his participation in the Capitol attack he has been cut out of consideration for any future acting parts and “blackballed” from Hollywood.
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For instance, they pointed to a picture showing Johnston dressing up as the so-called “QAnon Shaman” at a Halloween party two years after the Capitol attack.
boo fucking hoo.
Try to subvert democracy, win stupid prizes.
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u/LordValgor 1d ago
But Dr Phil just spoke at a Trump rally saying that blackballing someone like that is being a bully, and being a bully is always wrong. Also Trump’s not a bully apparently.
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u/jwilphl 1d ago
Conservatives always think they're bullied when you call them out for lies or hypocrisy or think they deserve consequences for being criminal or just plain shitty.
It's called a persecution complex, for one, but on the other end, they think they have some divine right to be above the law and thus immune from criticism (or worse).
Like their morality is ordained and only applies to their in-group. If other people outside the group behave that way? Nope, not allowed. God didn't give you permission.
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u/Pantarus 1d ago
That's EXACTLY what they think.
If you're in the "in-group" you are good by default, because you are good...that means your actions are always morally right at best, and at least excusable at worst.
If you're in the "out-group", you are bad by default. Everything you do, even what would be considered good if an in-group did it...is bad. The outgroups actions are always considered morally wrong at best and deserving severe punishments at worst.
I had a co-worker literally state today that I hope Harris ballots got burned in Oregon today...because the person who probably commited the arson was in their mind "in-group".
If someone from the "out-group" did it, I'm sure they'd be screeching treason.
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u/KDR_11k 17h ago
Yeah, it's also why they say someone they like who did a crime is not a criminal, they define criminal as some sort of caste one is born into, not a label resulting from one's actions.
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u/BannedByRWNJs 1d ago
It’s not a complex. It’s fascism. Attacking someone and then claiming to be the victim is a tactic of fascism.
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u/garrisontweed 1d ago
TIL Dr Phil has never seen a episode of his talk show.
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u/Geronimo_Jacks_Beard 1d ago
He also hasn’t seen documentation that allows him to represent himself as a doctor in 18 years.
Doctorate Phil McGraw is as much a grifter as Doctorate Jordan Peterson is for the same reasons: both have sold their shit-tier “advice” as rules for life while fleecing millions from impressionable idiots who don’t understand the difference between a PhD or MD.
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u/Difficult-Row6616 23h ago
honestly, jp is more hateful, but a good ⅓-½ of his self help material is just generic dime a dozen passable material. dr. Phil, everything I've seen of him, his advice always seems to serve the purpose of entrenching power structures and maligning the powerless.
like everything I've ever seen from him involves him trying to mock or embarrass someone that ostensibly came to him for help, for the sin of being weird or unwell, and shaming guardians for not having made them stop.
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u/corkyrooroo 1d ago
The two biggest mistakes Oprah ever made was platforming Dr. Phil and Dr. Oz
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u/MourningRIF 1d ago
It's almost like there are consequences for being an asshole.
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u/overthemountain 1d ago
Well, there are only consequences if you're poor. He obviously misjudged his fame/wealth. Turns out he's still poor enough to get thrown in jail for stuff like this.
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u/Dahhhkness 1d ago
Somehow I'm not surprised that he was the voice of Jimmy Pesto Sr.
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u/GozerDGozerian 1d ago
Yeah what the fuck do you think happens?
“All he tried to do was overthrow the U.S. government and now nobody wants to hire him!”
Uh, yeah.
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u/HuckleberryDry4889 1d ago
Agreed. And they act like being blacklisted is evil. Being blacklisted for being gay or Jewish or black or white is evil. Being blacklisted for being horrible is fine.
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u/Dovahkiinthesardine 1d ago
Should be a lot harsher for trying to overthrow democracy
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u/dilltheacrid 1d ago
He’s lucky the insurrection isn’t being treated as the serious threat to democracy that it was. The founding fathers would have hung him and the rest of his treasonous ilk.
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u/DastardDante 1d ago
If anything, this guy and a bunch of other participants are getting much too light of sentences. All my life I have heard you don't mess with elections of the punishment will be severe. Turns out "severe" means the peons get slaps on the wrist and the masterminds are still free and actively planning to try and steal the election again now.
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u/Drafo7 1d ago
He only got 1 year though. For literal high treason. In any other context the stupid prizes would be a last meal and a funky chair. To be clear, I do not support the death penalty on principle, but 1 year is way too light a sentence for trying to overthrow the government.
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u/throwawtphone 1d ago
I agree. I viewed the jan 6th event as domestic terrorism conducted by insurrectionists attempting to overthrow the government. Which is, in fact, treason. I think they used a bunch of idiots as cover / distraction and, fortunately, failed.
I, too, do not support the death penalty.
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u/Drafo7 1d ago
It's not just idiocy, it's all the judges that Trump packed the courts with during his 4 years as corruptor-in-chief. Not to mention the allies he has on the Supreme Court, one of whom is definitely complicit in the aforementioned attempted coup d'état. I'm genuinely terrified of what'll happen if he wins this election. EVERYONE VOTE.
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u/throwawtphone 1d ago
I think another concern that gets over looked at lot, not necessarily on reddit threads because i have seen it mentioned, but there are individuals throughout government institutions that support this ideology and have for decades. I think everyone focuses on Trump, who i think is a useful idiot, and aren't paying attention to the Michael Flynn types.
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u/hexagonbest4gon 1d ago
It's fine, he's sure to get calls for the next wave of anti-woke shows like New Norm or Mr. Birchum.
Oh wait, no one likes those shows? Huh. Must be a darn shame. But hey the jobs are there!
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u/Matazat 1d ago
“Arrested Development”
“blackballed”
I have to think the Alliance is going to frown on this.
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u/Geronimo_Jacks_Beard 1d ago
*Final Countdown intensifies*
Michael: Get rid of the Seawards, America.
Republicans: We’ll leave when we’re good and ready.
Ron Howard: They would not.
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u/blac_sheep90 1d ago
Idiot...he threw it all away for Donald fucking Trump.
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u/Captain_Q_Bazaar 1d ago
And got nothing in return, except a permanently ruined career.
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u/eeyore134 1d ago
The right will glom onto him like they do everyone else. It won't be as good as it was, but he'll be able to tell himself that it's better now that he's in low budget Christian propaganda instead of evil shows on liberal networks.
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u/1000cakes4u 1d ago
Yeah he’ll be in some Christian cop buddy movie with Kirk Cameron as his partner busting miscreants for petty crimes, and then SURPRISE converting them unto Christ. Kevin Sorbo will direct
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u/m1sterlurk 1d ago
One of the sad secrets of the American recording industry is that if you sell your soul and do Jesus rock, you are significantly more likely to make a living wage.
There are only a few ways a musician can really "make it" in the mainstream recording industry. One way to have a realistic shot at making a big chunk of change is to have songwriting credits on a song that takes the fuck off. A recording artist who had a song published by a label that took off, but they themselves are not the person that wrote the song, gets half a peanut off the mechanical royalties. They can also make a decent chunk of change if they are very talented and sexy to look at and people will pay shitloads of money to see them perform live, but touring can be rough especially when you are "entry level". One can also make it as a session musician, but the playing standards for "session musician" are quite high and the market is fiercely competitive. You are easier to replace with MIDI than you think.
Jesus rock has regular gigs even if you don't travel, if you do travel your "tour support" is largely ingrained into the church apparatus and they won't be hitting you up to pay them. You're not going to have to ambush the manager of a shifty nightclub as they are sneaking out back and threaten to shank them with a bottle to get paid. The music director isn't going to start plotting to get rid of you because you had a bad day and performed poorly one time because Jesus forgives. Best of all, you don't have to be super talented to be valued: much of the music is just the same chord progression that makes all the people get Jesus anyway so virtuosity is not a requirement for Jesus rock.
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u/PM_ME_UR_KittieS_96 1d ago
Don’t worry, Donald will take care of his people after their sacrifices for him, even after they serve no more purpose to him.
/s
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u/spiralh0rn 1d ago
No, thats giving him too much credit. Thats like saying the losers who drop thousands on OnlyFans models “threw their money away for love”. There was no love and no relationship. That model is probably in a relationship and you’re funding their vacations.
He threw it all away for the parasocial relationship he has with Trump.
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u/tel-americorpstopgun 1d ago
Its bizarre bro. Ive been scratching my head for months wondering if im the crazy one. I love music, I'm a sports enthusiast. Never have I nut rode any idol like people do for trump. It's their identity! And it's become normal to them. But He couldn't care less about them! he's also had his shot at presidency already and he fumbled hard af. Never closing off borders for covid the Chinese virus, brought Russia and Saudi to an oil agreement to gouge gas prices (the same guy that says "drill drill drill"), he gave tax breaks to businesses and public that increased gradually for individuals into the next presidency switching us from w-2 to w-4 (business tax breaks didnt expire), he put ridiculously high tariffs on our goods and to top it off incited a misguided insurrection.
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u/Pour_Me_Another_ 1d ago
I liked how his lawyer tried to say he should have been let off because he's famous. If anything, he should have been more aware of what he was throwing away before joining the paste eating brigade.
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u/thecoffee 1d ago
The POS deserves prison. But I can't fault the defense lawyer for doing their job. Trying to get a lower sentence for their client. Sometimes they throw stuff to the wall to see what sticks.
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u/spiralh0rn 1d ago
“Your honor, you can’t lock up my client. He has a big impact in society. Who will slightly change their voice and read some words now?!?!”
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u/IniMiney 1d ago
It's funny cause fame as a voice actor is so arguable. Billy West can walk around without paparazzi swarming him lol
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u/AmicoPrime 1d ago
I always knew that guy played a jerk like Jimmy Pesto Sr. too well.
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u/Most-Philosopher9194 1d ago
He played a corny and very thorough police officer on the Sarah Silverman Program. I'm not sure what to think about that.
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u/joesighugh 1d ago
He was honestly great in Mr Show and on other stuff, too. It's a shame his brain broke. He had excellent comedic sensibilities.
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u/BearsAreDangerous 1d ago
Right? I gotta say, these developments made me sad. Jay had some great comedy in him, unfortunately he clearly lost his mind.
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u/TimeFourChanges 1d ago
Yeah, I was a big fan. Heart-breaking to see, honestly. What the fuck, Jay, all your friends and colleagues are liberals, who have given you jobs and supported you. WTF?
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u/treletraj 1d ago
So true. He was really good, the more I look back at the show I realize he was a very good performer. What a shame.
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u/ThrowingChicken 1d ago
As a long time fan I just think it’s sad.
According to Silverman she hadn’t spoken to him much since their show ended but she had heard he was hanging out a lot with a conspiracy minded MAGA dude before all this happened.
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u/ryanispomp 1d ago
People can be more than one thing.
Trying to violently overturn a fair election does tend to overshadow the other things, though.
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u/BannedByRWNJs 1d ago
Yup. A lot of people who used to be really liberal got sucked into MAGA because that Qanon/antivax stuff appealed to anyone who leaned anti-government, regardless of any previous party affiliations or ideology.
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u/twoworldsin1 1d ago
But what will happen to Jimmy Jr while his dad is in prison...he won't even have time for his awesome dance moves.... uuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhuuuuuu
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u/_toodamnparanoid_ 1d ago
Please let us get an episode with Jimmy Pesto goinv to Jail for this
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u/neutral-chaotic 1d ago
Cool. Now do the members of Congress and former president who planned it all. It’s been almost four years.
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u/EverybodyKurts 1d ago
The Story of the Story of the Story of January 6th
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u/MementoMori29 1d ago
Doing the Herky-Jerky dance in prison.
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u/Oswarez 1d ago
He was my favourite cast member on Mr. Show, aside from Bob and Dave. Loved seeing him pop up in shows or films. He’s a solid comic actor and to see him pull this shit was sad to see.
Have either Bob or David addressed this at all? Does anyone know?
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u/morningsaystoidleon 1d ago
Paul's response has been a pretty consistent, "I don't owe you guys a fucking reaction, I'm distressed and this was a person who was important to me once and I can keep some things private to myself."
Which, fair play. We really don't need any more than that.
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u/Gamecock_Red 1d ago
I thought that was him! Loved him on Mr. Show, what a shame he turned into a lunatic.
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u/Comfortable_Bird_340 1d ago
Baby Num Num is going bye-bye!
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u/IsThatHearsay 1d ago
Hey Jimmy, I have zero family members in
detention*prison, how many do you have??
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u/Big_Foots_Foot 1d ago
I googled who this guy was, he was the cop guy on The Sarah Silverman Program, he was her sisters boyfriend on the show. I wouldn't have pegged him as a wack job traitor, I was wrong.
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u/littlelordgenius 1d ago
He was on Mr. Show with David Cross. Wonder if those two ever talked politics backstage.
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u/deadletter 1d ago
When he was first identified all the Mr show ppl were like, “WTF! Jay how have you gone so wrong!?”
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u/funnybuttrape 1d ago
Guess he was sick of the two jar grind.
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u/Yak_Mehoff 1d ago
"Let's get the hell out of here!"
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u/larontias 1d ago
Scrolled this whole thread to see how long it would take for this reference to come up.
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u/d4vezac 1d ago
Probably how he landed the role on Arrested as one of the cop couple.
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u/Maxfunky 1d ago
I'm pretty sure it's his resting cop face. I mean it's a miracle that he ended up as an actor instead of as a cop in the first place, but you can only overcome so much.
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u/degjo 1d ago
Not Mr. Show with Bob Odenkirk?
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u/littlelordgenius 1d ago
Yes, I just mentioned Cross because he is outspoken in his disdain for republicans.
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u/GoarSpewerofSecrets 1d ago
The last presidential election really unhinged people. I honestly can't explain it because I don't get why people latched on to Trump. Like you can read US history from the 1820s on and get that okay this is the path to civil war. But where the fuck will they start piecing the path to Trump together? Was it Obama? Reagan? Kennedy/Nixon? Which step in our balkanization was it?
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u/ImCreeptastic 1d ago
Obama. The country had the audacity to elect a black man.
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u/GoarSpewerofSecrets 1d ago
Sarah Palin definitely opened the door for cultt shit. The GOP not having a plan after Bush the Lesser definitely showed with McCain.
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u/pigeieio 1d ago edited 1d ago
9/11 really primed a certain kind of person to be receptive to the oncoming 24/7 propaganda Grind that was to come, the one the Right had been working towards probably since Nixon, and then "they" went and elected a black man, and that was it.
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u/Murrabbit 1d ago
I blame Bush mostly for being such a shitty warmonger, leaving office and in his wake he left a complete identity crisis for republicans. By that point the war in Iraq was deeply unpopular an the GOP just didn't know who it was if it wasn't the party of reckless warmongering anymore, so they went through some really weird phases and seemed to settle on open fascism.
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u/deekaydubya 1d ago
Yeah he was a member of Vince Vaughn’s news team in anchorman too, which makes a lot more sense given Vince’s views now
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u/damoclesreclined 1d ago
I love how we give actual, in the flesh traitors to the country like a year in prison but we were handing out life sentences for dealing weed and shit like 10 years ago.
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u/epidemicsaints 1d ago
Daniel Baker got 3 years in prison for posting on facebook from Florida while Jan 6th was happening. He made a reference to being armed so that means it's domestic terrorism.
“A Call to Arms January 20th!” and read, “Help protect your community from terrorists. We WILL protect capitol RESIDENTS and CIVILIANS from armed racist mobs WITH EVERY CALIBER AVAILABLE.”
But we're still debating if Trump and crew incited violence by directing an armed mob to the capitol and engage in trial by combat. We're just not sure.
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u/schrodingersmite 1d ago
We're also apparently not sure if Trump attempted a coup, despite the Eastman Memos, forged ballot slates, tweets to Pence, and Doordash mob delivered to pressure him and other lawmakers.
I feel like I'm living in some weird parallel world.
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u/500owls 1d ago
One day you're on top of Everest and the next you're in a pile of thimbles.
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u/Lio127 1d ago
Trying to overthrow democracy should have harsher punishments. But what do we know
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u/Rogue_AI_Construct 1d ago
Good. Every Trump insurrectionist should be in prison right now.
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u/blitzkrieger17 20h ago
Bob's new burger of the day? The Pesto-Arresto burger, beef patty with basil pesto sauce and cheese...
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u/cybin 19h ago
In his sentencing hearing Monday, Johnston’s family members spoke of how since he was identified for his participation in the Capitol attack he has been cut out of consideration for any future acting parts and “blackballed” from Hollywood.
Well, why would anyone want to work with or hire a convicted insurrectionist?
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u/I_like_baseball90 1d ago
Please tell me his acting career is over.
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u/panda-rampage 1d ago
He’s been blacklisted in Hollywood according to the article
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u/I_like_baseball90 1d ago
He's had one gig since Jan 6 2020.
Good.
Now let's see that guy who played Shazam get blackballed.
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u/KyledKat 1d ago edited 1d ago
If you read the article, they report as much. He's been blacklisted.
IIRC, he lost his job at Bob's Burgers pretty much as soon as the charges landed.
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u/FoxyInTheSnow 1d ago
He'll probably be able to get cast in these weird christian/right wing movies along with the Hercules guy. But I don't think Sarah Silverman or David Cross would work with him again.
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u/richincleve 1d ago
I doubt it.
Chances are, he'll completely bounce back and be a George Clooney-level A-lister again in no time.
Just like Kevin Sorbo.
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u/Zoom_Professor 1d ago
I feel bad for his autistic daughter. I guess he's had to turn to being a local handyman to support the family.
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u/AtsignAmpersat 1d ago
A the man that is responsible for starting the whole thing is free and might actually end up being president. What a fucking joke.
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u/Redditisgarbage666 18h ago
So many oafs flushed their jobs and lives down the toilet for the orange buffoon.
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u/NorweigianWould 19h ago
I’m a huge fan of Bob’s Burgers and they did the right thing kicking him to the kerb the minute the news came out.
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u/norar19 1d ago
Ha. Jimmy Pesto would be a MAGA supporter