Rupert Murdoch and James Murdoch may have been the “guests of honor” at Tuesday’s parliamentary proceedings in the News Corp. phone-hacking scandal, but an unlikely figure emerged as the star of the show, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

The star was Wendi Deng, Rupert Murdoch’s third wife, who has become an Intenet sensation since she was seen taking a swing at the man who attacked her husband with a shaving foam pie.

According to the piece: “Footage of 42-year-old Deng jumping forward to smack a protester who had a pie aimed at Rupert Murdoch’s face quickly went viral, and numerous fan pages popped up on social networking sites such as Facebook praising her rapid reflexes.”

Deng’s role throughout most of the proceedings was to sit behind Murdoch, occasionally pouring him water and whispering encouragement in his ear, the story notes. But that changed suddenly.

“When protester Jonathan May-Bowles approached Murdoch, 80, with a foam pie he had managed to smuggle in, one of the media mogul’s lawyers, Janet Nova, quickly stepped in,” the story says. “But it was the image of Deng — clad in a prim pink blazer and polka dot pencil skirt — leaping forward to swat, open-palmed, at the man trying to attack her husband that stunned millions of TV viewers and presenters watching the events unfold live.”

Deng reportedly relished the moment, laughing afterward as she said, “I got him.”

Among the tweets that soon followed: ”Wow, wendy [sic] murdoch giving whole new meaning to the term tiger mother … insanity!” (from Katie Couric).

Another tweet said: ”OMG! Wendi Murdoch just crouching tigered across 2 people and head whacked a guy trying to pie Rupert! THAT is good TV!”

Added the Herald: “For what could be the first time, Deng’s celebrity briefly eclipsed that of her husband. A fan page on Facebook invited viewers to ‘’express your admiration of Mrs Murdoch’s right hook,’ while tweets glowing with praise poured into Twitter and started ‘’Wendi Deng’’ trending on the site.”

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