Actor Jay Johnston has reportedly been fired from the cast of Bob’s Burgers after it was revealed that he participated in the riot at the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021. Johnston has been the voice of Jimmy Pesto on Bob’s Burgers for about a decade now, and is also known for roles on productions like Mr. Show, Arrested Development and Anchorman, among others. On Friday, The Daily Beast reported that Johnston had been “banned” from working on Bob’s Burgers.
Two sources familiar with the situation at the Fox animated sitcom said that Johnston will not be allowed to record the voice of Jimmy Pesto Sr. It was described as a “ban” rather than a “firing,” and they said that the people behind Bob’s Burgers do not want to make “a big deal” out of the story. A Fox spokesperson told The Daily Beast: “Thanks for reaching out, FOX has no comment,” while a Disney spokesperson added: “We will not be providing a comment.” Johnston did not respond to the outlet’s requests for a comment at all.
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Johnston appears to be visible in photos and videos from the Jan. 6 riot, but he has never publicly admitted to attending the event. No one from Fox or from Bob’s Burgers has ever firmly stated that Johnston was there either, but the FBI did publish a poster with a closeup of a man that appears to be Johnston.
Amateur investigators proposed Johnston as a suspect in March based on the images provided by the FBI. Actress Cassandra Church, who worked with Johnston in the past, later tweeted: “I’m no detective, but I do know Jay. He said he was there. And that’s him in the picture. So…” Another former colleague, writer Spencer Crittenden, added: “He’s also a craven Trump supporter and was there at the time.”
Johnston has not been the most politically outspoken actor of the last few years, but he has gone so far as to appear on the now-defunct web show of Gavin McInnes in 2015. McInnes founded the Proud Boys, a militant far-right extremist group that has been linked with numerous acts of domestic terrorism in the U.S. Over 60 members of the Proud Boys were arrested in connection with the Jan. 6 riot.
Still, many Bob’s Burgers fans had no idea about Johnston’s political views, let alone the strong possibility that he participated in the attempted insurrection. On Twitter, many commenters joked that Johnston’s character, Jimmy Pesto also seemed like the type of person to attend the violent rally. There is no word yet on whether the character will be recast.
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