Noted Internet plagiarist The Fat Jew is being slammed for his joke-stealing ways
People are finally realizing that the Fat Jew is a big thief.
The Internet personality, who is legally known as Josh Ostrovsky, catapulted himself into a niche level of micro-stardom by stealing jokes and memes created from others and posting them on Instagram and Twitter.
His outlandish look and personality has led to sponsorship deals, a radio show on Apple’s Beats 1, and 6 million followers combined on the two social networks. He’s capitalized on himself to make a lucrative brand that charges up to $2,500 for a sponsored Instagram post.
Last week, Hollywood talent agency CAA announced they’ve signed the 30-year-old to a deal to “represent him in all areas,” brushing off his plagiarism past.
With a book deal and a recently launched brand of wine called White Girl Rosé, it seems that nothing could stop Ostrovsky’s rise to fame. That was until this weekend, when writer Maura Quint slammed the “comedian” on Facebook and Twitter for stealing a joke of hers:
He is making a living off of the hard work of other people. The people he steals from are struggling writers, comedians, etc. They would love to be able to profit from THEIR OWN WORK but can’t because this complete waste of a person is monetizing their words before they even have a chance to. When called out on his continued theft he either ignores it, says “whoops” or says “geez I guess an intern stole it!” This man makes nothing, contributes nothing, originates nothing, he is a leech, he is a virus, he is what is wrong with the world. Please please please do not support him. He is pure trash.
Patton Oswalt retweeted Quint’s statement, along with a number of other comedians also criticizing Ostrovsky.
To me, what makes @fatjew so funny aren’t the stolen jokes he posts, but THE WAY he posts them.
— Michael Ian Black (@michaelianblack) August 16, 2015
Now I kinda feel bad because @FATJEW didn’t steal from me. I gotta step up my instagram game — Paul Scheer (@paulscheer) August 16, 2015
As @FATJEW once said, “I have a dream.”
— Kumail Nanjiani (@kumailn) August 15, 2015
And it wasn’t just Quint who was stolen from. Someone collected (at least) 50 jokes that Ostrovsky stolen for “corporate gain.” The so-called jokes used on @TheFatJew’s accounts are almost carbon copies of jokes he, or his minions, take from other accounts besides a few grammar tweaks. When presented side-by-side, the degree of plagiarism. Gawker and The Daily Beast both called him out for it today, too.
So, is the “day of reckoning,” as Splitsider calls it, finally here for him? It’s close. Comedy Central confirmed to the comedy website that it “no longer has a project in development” with him. The project was dropped a few months ago.
He’s remained unusually silent on Twitter since the controversy erupted.
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