Overview

Piggate, alternately known as The Bae of Pigs, Hameron, or The Snoutrage, is the name of a scandal surrounding the British Prime Minister David Cameron, after an unauthorized biography claimed that he inserted his penis into the mouth of a dead pig during an induction ceremony for a secret society at Oxford University.

Background

On September 20th, 2015, The Daily Mail published an excerpt from an unauthorized biography of British Prime Minister David Cameron by Lord Michael Ashcroft.^[1] In the book titled Call Me Dave, Ashcroft alleged that during his college years at Oxford University, Cameron was to be inducted into the infamous Piers Gaveston Society,^[13] a secret campus group known for excessive drug-taking and sexual parties. Ashcroft interviewed Cameron’s classmates, one of whom spoke about the induction ceremony for the society.

A distinguished Oxford contemporary claims Cameron once took part in an outrageous initiation ceremony at a Piers Gaveston event, involving a dead pig. His extraordinary suggestion is that the future PM inserted a private part of his anatomy into the animal’s mouth.

Ashcroft wrote that although the claim couldn't be completely verified, the classmate had provided the author with several additional details and pieces of evidence, including the name of another classmate who possessed a photograph of the act, and the dimensions of said photograph. When asked about the allegations, the Prime Minister's staff had no comment.

Notable Developments

Due to rumors about what the story contained, the term #Piggate had already been coined by Twitter user gjb70 before The Daily Mail published the story.^[2][3] In less than 24 hours after the story had been published, the hashtag #Piggate had been tweeted more than 178,000 times to refer to the incident,^[4] with many users on Twitter tweeting photos of David Cameron holding or touching pigs during head-of-state farm visits, or making jokes about the British children's show Peppa the Pig.^[5] A parody Twitter account claiming to be the pig that Cameron encountered was created, and quickly acquired more than 10,000 followers.^[6]

#Piggate was covered in most major British publications, including The Guardian^[7] and the Independent,^[8] however it was not reported by the British state media agency, the BBC, which some in the country criticized. In addition, many American publications reported on the scandal and the resulting Twitter use, including Buzzfeed^[9] and Gawker.^[10]

Black Mirror Connection

In Episode 1, Season 1 of BBC's science fiction TV series Black Mirror, the prime minister of Britain, faced with a hostage situation, is forced to have sex with a pig on live television. ^[11]

The similarities between the pilot episode's plot and the Piggate were quickly unearthed; however, the show's creator and writer, Charlie Brooker, claims to have had no prior knowledge of the alleged act by David Cameron. ^[12]

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References