Exclusive: 'Better Call Saul' TV lawyer told fellow actor and J6 protester he should be in jail



Actor Jay Johnston says "Better Call Saul" star Bob Odenkirk told him he should go to jail because he was at the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Johnston was put on an indefinite hiatus from the hit cartoon "Bob's Burgers" in 2021 after appearing at the Capitol. The FBI even publicized his photo and asked the public for help identifying him as a possible violent offender. Johnston eventually pleaded guilty to a felony offense of obstructing officers during a civil disorder. He was sentenced to one year and a day in prison through a plea deal.

Johnston was scheduled to start serving his sentence on February 6, 2025, but was issued a pardon by President Trump.

Before his sentencing, however, Johnston said he had already been "blacklisted" in Hollywood for simply being named as being present at the Capitol. In an attempt to get back to work, Johnston told Blaze News in an exclusive interview that he reached out to actor Odenkirk for a friendly call.

Johnston had appeared in an episode of Odenkirk's hit show "Better Call Saul" in 2020 but also starred in 28 episodes of Odenkirk's mid-1990s sketch show, "Mr. Show with Bob and David."

Johnston said he started the call by telling Odenkirk he knew there were a lot of rumors circling in the media about himself and wanted to explain. Odenkirk reacted, "Yeah, I know, I'm really disappointed, man."

Despite telling Odenkirk he didn't do anything wrong, wasn't violent, and that he may be going to prison, Odenkirk still told Johnston, "Well, you know, basically you f*** around and you find out."

"You gotta pay the price," Odenkirk continued, per Johnston.

Johnston said he was shocked at the response given his history with Odenkirk.

"I just couldn't believe he was saying that to me because he had bought it hook, line, and sinker from the same outlets that he was making fun of years ago. I understand he's got a family and stuff. I mean, I know him, and I don't ask him to put his neck on the chopping block for me, but speaking to me personally and saying that stuff was just incredible to me."

'You try and overthrow the government, then you should go to jail.'

Johnston revealed more about his conversation with Odenkirk, who allegedly told him he attended Black Lives Matter rallies and that he understood he, too, could be convicted of guilt by association if he had appeared in the same frame as a "defund the police" banner.

"They would have said I was part of that 'defund the police thing,' and I don't believe in that," Johnston claimed Odenkirk told him.

Johnston replied, "I was like, 'Oh, OK. But you know my career's over. My family's in jeopardy. I'm in jeopardy. I may be going to prison. It's a touch different,'" the actor went on. "[Odenkirk] also was sort of trying to make it as if it was a matter of fact, an obvious conclusion, that if 'you try and overthrow the government, then you should go to jail.'"

The 56-year-old said he pleaded with Odenkirk to think about what he was saying and told to him that there was no plot to "overthrow the government." Johnston said he hoped to explain how what he witnessed that day was a lot more "U-S-A" chants and not as much "wall-to-wall action." However, with no such luck convincing Odenkirk, Johnston said his former colleague seemed to have fallen victim to how the media had characterized the day's events.

What made Odenkirk's reaction more shocking to Johnston was that during his time on "Mr. Show with Bob and David," Odenkirk and company "wouldn't toe the line for the man." Johnston described the cast as being able to say and do whatever they wanted, "and that felt good," he recalled.

Compared to today, Johnston said the bulk of Hollywood actors have since been "captured" by the media machine, including his former "Mr. Show with Bob and David" co-star David Cross and his castmates from "Bob's Burgers."

While Johnston didn't blame his coworkers for not risking their careers for him, he said he appreciated that actress Mary Lynn Rajskub shed doubt on the narratives that were being portrayed about him. A simple, "[I'm] not sure what happened" from Rajskub on a podcast was well beyond what any other actors were willing to say.

Johnston added that as time has passed, very few actors are pushing the envelope or even pushing the idea of free speech at all.

"What happened to those guys? They're not quite doing that anymore," he asked.

Johnston noted that he believes one needs to be a "card-carrying member" of the approved Hollywood elite class in order to get away with mocking it and truly have one's speech protected.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Exclusive: Ray Epps encouraged J6 protesters to move forward through tear gas, actor Jay Johnston says: 'Breathe it in!'



Former "Bob's Burgers" actor Jay Johnston said he witnessed suspected federal informant Ray Epps encourage protesters to push toward the Capitol while they were being tear-gassed on January 6, 2021.

Johnston told Blaze News in an exclusive interview he was fired from his role in the hit animated series and "blacklisted" from Hollywood after he was convicted for his participation in the protests at the Capitol.

Having since received a full pardon from President Trump, the actor revealed that he witnessed Epps make strange demands of the crowd on January 6.

'We did this in boot camp!'

"I was standing next to some guys that started arguing, some protesters," Johnston recalled. "One guy was yelling at the police, and then another protester came up to him and started yelling at him, and then they were yelling back and forth at each other right in front of me," he continued.

"I was thinking, 'Why are these two protesters fighting? Why is this guy with a big mouth yelling at this guy?' And then this other dude steps in, who turns out to be Ray Epps, who was pinpointed as a possible government employee."

Epps was widely theorized to be a government or law enforcement insider after footage was released showing him encouraging crowds on January 5 to go into the Capitol building the following day.

Footage showed Epps saying, "We need to go into the Capitol! Into the Capitol!" and "We're not here to fight, man. We're here to storm the Capitol."

"I believe he is [a government employee]," Johnston continued. "But [Epps] came in there and was like, 'Oh, come on, guys,' you know, telling them to shut up or stop fighting. Then, tear gas gets launched into the crowd. ... You can't even breathe. So I turned on my heels and started running away, and I could hear Ray Epps in the background say, 'Breathe it in, you p***ies! We did this in boot camp! Come on, you p***ies!'"

Johnston explained that Epps stood "in the tear gas" and was "yelling at people."

"I thought, 'Well, he seems like an ex-Marine or something.' I had no idea, but I thought that was kind of funny. And then later when he was pointed out as being an agitator, it made sense," Johnston added.

  Ray Epps, in the red Trump hat, center, gestures to a line of law enforcement officers, as people gather on the west front of the US Capitol. Photo by Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

When recalling events from that day, Johnston said he was "naive" to think that confidential informants or human sources would not be planted within the crowd.

"A lot of this comes in retrospect because I was not at that event with that filter of 'who might be a government asset,' 'who might be an informant or a [confidential human source],'" Johnston remembered.

According to NBC News, Johnston pleaded guilty to a felony offense of obstructing officers during a civil disorder and was sentenced to a year and a day in prison.

Johnston told Blaze News his sentence was made through a plea deal, and he was scheduled to go to prison on February 6, 2025, but was issued a pardon by the president.

"Thank God for Trump. He stepped in," Johnston said.

My fiancé Jay Johnston was just pardoned! 🎉🇺🇸🥂
— Sara Radovanovitch (@the_cats_meowww) January 21, 2025
 

Johnston was noted as having assisted at least four others at the Capitol who had injuries from tear gas and helped them wash their eyes out. However, he was also accused of being part of a group that pinned a D.C. Metro Police officer against a door frame; the accusation led to his conviction.

Johnston denied the way his actions were characterized by media outlets.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Exclusive: Hollywood 'hypocrisy' over harsh Jan. 6 sentence for 'Bob's Burgers' actor: 'The whole LA comedy scene piled on'



“‘Bob’s Burgers’ Actor Sentenced to One Year in Prison for Role in Jan. 6 Riot” crowed the New York Times as the funniest man I’ve ever met was leaving D.C. and heading back to L.A. to pack up his life.

Jay Johnston wasn’t just Bob’s rival Jimmy Pesto; he was the officer on the "Sarah Silverman Program" who said, “As a cop, I’ve seen things that would make you crap a book on how to puke.”

I hate that Jay is going to prison for a year, but I love this story because it is a perfect example of the brutal hypocrisy of Hollywood, the left, and everyone who thinks they’re 'creative.'

True comedy fans know him more for his incredible performances on "Mr. Show," including “The Story of Everest,” where he knocks down his parents' thimble collection eight times.

Slapstick is his forte. The guy is about a hundred feet tall or, as Andy Dick once called him, “a legal giant,” so when he falls, it’s hilarious.

Jeepers cheapers

I wrote a TV pilot with him once called “The Two Bennies,” where we updated the slapstick of Benny Hill with over-the-top lunacy. Instead of a woman slapping one of us for being fresh, she chopped our heads off with a chainsaw.

I remember pitching him certain ideas and ending with, “Do you think that’s funny?” to which he would pause and say, “Let me ask you something … do you think that’s funny?”

I’ve known this guy for a quarter of a century, and he was never political.

He was a hard-drinking, heavy-smoking madman who drove a Jeep with no sides or windshield so that when you got in, he’d hand you a coat and goggles to stay alive.

He’s Hunter S. Thompson meets RanXerox but he’s also an incredibly moral and courageous person who will run down the street chasing a purse snatcher into hell.

We’d go on vacation together every year with a bunch of other people in the funny community, and the discussions were always retarded.

Once when I picked Jay up at the airport in Saint Martin, we got lost trying to get out of the airport. He said, “This parking lot was originally designed by the infamous municipal planner William P. Nillard, known to his friends as Willy Nilly.”

Jay often mocked me for being a typical Scottish cheap-ass. On one trip, he went to open the door for me, but it only went halfway because it got stuck on a rock.

“Sorry,” he said insincerely. “I’m cheap too.” I pulled it shut hard over the pebble, and the loud bang led Jay to add, “Take it easy, Slammy Davis Jr.”

Blind man's baseball

I remember in Jamaica in 2003, David Cross ("Mr. Show") was giving me s**t for being a Republican, and Jay asked, “You’re a Republican? Why? Don’t you see that diversity is ultimately better for everyone and all that?”

This was one of the only remotely political things I ever heard him say, and his response was typical of the L.A. comedy scene back then. They talk about politics the way British people talk about baseball: blindly.

The next time politics came out of his big mouth was in 2016 when Trump was running for president. He was at Starburns Industries, and Dan Harmon ("Rick and Morty") was talking about how important it was that Hillary win.

Johnston dared to disagree and said that he liked the idea of Trump shaking things up.

It was as if he had said, “I don’t know. You have to admit at least SOME toddlers are sexy.”

Everyone in the room was gobsmacked, and Dan turned purple with rage before giving Jay a screaming diatribe that sounded like Mussolini in a bad mood.

I spoke to Jay soon after that and worried that one incident was going to get him blackballed, because Harmon basically runs comedy over there.

“I don’t think it’ll be that bad” he replied. “Maybe brownballed.”

Refusing to embrace Trump derangement syndrome was Jay’s first scarlet letter, but it wasn’t the end of his career — possibly because he wasn’t politically active. Yes, he dared to blaspheme Hillary, but to hang out with this guy was 99% workshopping comedy bits.

Transformers convention

I used to grab drinks with him and other people way funnier than me, like Jeff B. Davis and Dino Stamatopoulos at the Rustic Inn in L.A. “I just flew back from a Transformers convention, and boy are my arms tires,” one of them would quip.

The table became incredibly serious after that as each guy tried to outdo the other. “George W. Bush just flew back from seeing the devastation Katrina caused, and boy are his farms mired” got some groans before someone added, “Bush just flew back from Afghanistan, and boy are his armies tired.”

I think it was Jay who ended the volley by saying he just flew back from a Hitler convention, and boy is his arm tired.

Little did he know that joke would become reality in Biden’s America and that he’d be going to prison for an arm that wasn’t even tired because it didn’t even do anything.

Social distancing

Jay’s 2016 transgression remained a minor black cloud above his career until Dino had a party in 2021 at the tail end of COVID. Johnston arrived with no mask and was hugging everyone and shaking hands like it wasn’t an instant death sentence.

The lefties of La La Land had moved on from Hillary and had focused all their attention on health protocol. Jay’s negligent behavior confirmed their worst fears about him. This guy is a right-winger after all.

This wave of ostracism annoyed Jay and made him more interested in what the “evil” right had been up to all these years. He started to follow Trump more closely. When he heard of the January 6 rally, he texted me. “Are you going to check this out?” he asked.

“F**k no,” I responded. “I will be avoiding it like the plague.” This exchange ended up in court.

When the big day arrived, Jay was curious. Again, this is a British person at a baseball game, so he wasn’t experienced enough to know how these things usually go. At the ripe old age of 53, this was his first rally.

Giant injustice

During the chaos, Jay was handed a police shield because he’s 6’4” and could easily get it out of there. His girlfriend later joked that Jay was on trial for "being tall." He passed it over his head to police.

In the footage, however, he could just as easily have been using it to attack police. You can’t tell. The FBI began circulating his image and asking the public if they knew who he was.

The sh**bags in L.A. couldn’t wait to respond. This is why I hate those people so much. They have no honor. They don’t just lack the courage of their convictions. They lack courage.

Tim Heidecker (known to many as the guy who got Sam Hyde canceled) couldn’t wait to point out Jay’s involvement. Jeff B. Davis went a step farther and actually spoke to the FBI himself, sharing texts that included Jay saying, “The news has presented it as an attack. It actually wasn’t. Though, it kind of turned into that. It was a mess. Got maced and tear gassed and I found it quite untastic.”

Jeff and Jay must have spent a thousand hours together. I think Jeff is the one who came up with “boy are his farms mired.” I always suspected Jeff was jealous of Jay’s sense of humor, and the backstabbing confirms it.

It wasn’t just Jeff and Tim who couldn’t wait to string up the kindest guy I’ve ever known. The whole L.A. comedy scene piled on. Jay’s 13-year-old daughter was taking an improv class because she wanted to be like her dad. Unfortunately, what got her into the class also got her out, because she was sent home for the sins of her father. "Bob’s Burgers" fired him, his new film "Wing Dad" was shelved, and his entire career came to a screeching halt.

Rat pack

This was going way past brownlisted. A friend of mine was at David Cross’ 60th birthday party recently (David and I were very close, but we broke up after he got TDS). This guest is still friends with Jay and me, but he hates Trump, so he still gets invited to parties. He was pleading with everyone there to see Jay’s side.

"You don’t think it's insane that he’s facing serious jail time?” he kept asking.

Do you think they gave a s**t about the nuance of the police shield? Do you think any of them had even heard about the shield?

They all — to a man — shrugged their shoulders and harrumphed, “F**k around and find out.” Not one of them showed any sympathy (or dared let anyone else know they felt sympathy) despite knowing Jay for almost 30 years — funny, that.

Three years after Jay’s visit to D.C., he was charged with violation of 18 USC 231, “Obstructing law enforcement officers during a civil disorder,” and sentenced to 366 days in prison as well as two years of supervised release.

I hate that Jay is going to prison for a year, but I love this story because it is a perfect example of the brutal hypocrisy of Hollywood, the left, and everyone who thinks they’re “creative.”

The drama-club nerds don’t grow up with empathy and the ability to see outcasts for the human beings they really are. They grow up to be bitter victims hell-bent on revenge. If that means throwing your buddy in a cage for disagreeing with you, so be it. These are the neighbors who will rat you out to the Stasi if communism ever takes over.

This is why it’s so important that we win this election. The other side is so immoral that it’s not funny.

I donated to Jay’s GiveSendGo. You should too.