Jay Johnston Pled Guilty to Charges That Lost Him the Role of Jimmy Pesto
Eric Bauza is the new voice actor for Jimmy Pesto on 'Bob's Burgers.'
Jul. 9 2024, Published 1:36 p.m. ET
Longtime Bob's Burgers rival Jimmy Pesto got a new voice actor late in 2023, despite the long-running animated series starting with Jay Johnston voicing Bob Belcher's enemy.
Jay was fired from the role following a public incident, and even with a roster of other big roles like Anchorman and Mr. Show with Bob and David, he's been out of work for some time now.
But why was the voice actor fired?
Jimmy Pesto was replaced with a new voice actor after Jay Johnston was fired.
On July 8, Jay pled guilty in court to a felony charge of civil disorder following his participation in the riot on the U.S. Capitol that happened on Jan. 6, 2021.
According to ABC7, video footage from the riot shows Jay visibly pushing officers and stealing a police shield to pass to some of the others attempting to breach the building. Depending on the court's ruling, Jay could face up to five years in prison.
Jay Johnston with Laura Silverman, Brian Posehn, Sarah Silverman and Steve Agee.
Immediately following the Jan. 6 riot, Jay was fired from his role on Bob's Burgers, being banned from the show for his participation in the violent display.
Since being fired in 2021, the role of Jimmy Pesto has since been recast. Voice actor Eric Bauza was selected for the role in November 2023, with Eric sharing the news on his Instagram page.
Eric has a long resume of voice acting roles, voicing various characters in shows like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Transformers: Robots in Disguise, Ben 10: Omniverse, and more. Though many of his credits are roles on children's television series, he has close to 400 acting credits on his IMDb page, more than proving his ability to pick up the role.
Since being let go from Bob's Burgers in 2021, Jay has only appeared in Wing Dad and has no other new acting credits in progress.