‘The Fat Jew’ Joke Theft Victims Speak Out
Last year, comedian and television writer Patrick Walsh was eating lunch when a friend showed him a funny Instagram image of a daily planner that followed scheduled time blocks of “drugs and alcohol” and “crush pussy” with “meet with accountant to discuss 401K options.” Walsh was the joke’s original creator – but the friend, not knowing this, had seen it on The Fat Jew, an Instagram account run by 33-year-old Josh Ostrovsky. The image on Ostrovsky’s account was nearly identical to the joke Walsh originally posted, with a few crucial differences.
“My name, handle and face had been removed,” Walsh tells Rolling Stone. “The date had been removed. It was mind-blowing to me how blatant it was. Like, the thief was too lazy to even change a couple words around, which is what joke thieves generally do. It was so obvious.”
For years, Ostrovsky has used his social media feeds to blend original humor with aggregated jokes (though mostly the latter), racking up 5.7 million Instagram followers in the process and parlaying his fame into a book deal, modeling contract, Beats 1 hosting gig and numerous brand sponsorships reportedly valued at up to $6,000 a post. Last week, The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that Ostrovsky signed a deal with the high-powered talent firm Creative Artists Agency for “representation in all areas.”
But Ostrovsky’s chronic refusal to credit the original authors of his jokes has made him the target of comedians across the web, including high-profile attacks from Patton Oswalt, Michael Ian Black, Kumail Nanjiani, Norm Macdonald and Chelsea Peretti, among many others. (Presumably responding to the criticism, Ostrovsky has begun adding credits to his most recent Instagram posts. Ostrovsky could not be reached for comment for this story.)
Ostrovsky’s methods have been criticized for years, but his CAA deal prompted a new and more vocal round of animus. “Taking work from other people is wrong. This isn’t ambiguous morality; this is something kindergartners know,” says writer Maura Quint, who has been vociferous in her criticism on Twitter and penned a Facebook post excoriating Ostrovsky that went viral. “The more people see him as a success, the more people will want to follow in his filth-covered footsteps. His ‘brand’ is theft.”
“He’ll still have the influence of 6 million people who are mostly oblivious that he’s needlessly profiting off of other people’s creativity,” adds comic Brett Druck. Druck and comedian Nat Baimel started the Twitter handle @FitJew earlier this month, highlighting some of Ostrovsky’s borrowed material, but crediting the original creators. “Any ‘aggregator’ could easily amass that same influence while keeping the creators’ names in there. It’s greed. He needs his [social media] accounts suspended.”
Rolling Stone spoke to eight comedians whose jokes were used, uncredited and without permission, by Ostrovsky to get their side of the story.
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