MPs suspended their questioning of Rupert Murdoch for 15 minutes after a protester lunged towards him wielding a shaving foam pie.
The session had been going for two hours when the man rushed forward from the public gallery towards the News Corp chairman and chief executive.He was fought off by a group of people including Mr Murdoch's wife Wendi Deng, who was also in the public gallery.
The alleged perpetrator was identified on Twitter as Jonnie Marbles.
The man, who describes himself as an activist and comedian, wrote on the website just before the incident: "It is a far better thing that I do now than I have ever done before #splat."
The protester reportedly shouted "you naughty billionaire" as he approached Mr Murdoch - who was being questioned in a room in Portcullis House, a building adjacent to the Houses of Parliament where many MPs have their offices.
Mr Murdoch's wife, dressed in a pink jacket and seated behind him during the session, leapt up to defend her husband and appeared to slap the assailant on his head.
The shaving foam hit Mr Murdoch's suit jacket and he later resumed the session in his shirt and tie.
At the end of the questioning, committee member Labour MP Tom Watson joked to Mr Murdoch: "Your wife has a very good left hook."
Seconds after the incident occurred, Tory MP John Whittingdale - who chairs the Commons media committee and was overseeing proceedings - suspended the session.
People were quickly ushered out of the room, the BBC's political editor Nick Robinson said, and reporters and members of the public were not re-admitted.
Scotland Yard have confirmed that a 26-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of assault.
'Remaining calm' Nick Robinson said Rupert Murdoch had remained calm but that his son James - who was sitting next to his father at the time - seemed incensed by the incident.
James Murdoch said he was angry that Commons security staff had failed to protect his father.
Labour MP Chris Bryant, who was present in the committee room, said the attacker tried to shove a plastic plate with shaving foam on it in Rupert Murdoch's face."It's a contempt of parliament to do something like this."
Asked about security levels in the building, he said: "I guess they weren't looking for shaving foam."
Mr Whittingdale apologised to the tycoon, saying the incident had been "wholly unacceptable".
Tory MP Louise Mensch said it showed "real guts" for the Murdochs to continue answering questions, saying he had been the victim of a "common assault".
The public was later excluded from a subsequent hearing in which former News International boss Rebekah Brooks answered questions.
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