Brian Zulberti, Esquire, Explains Why Shots Of Your Junk Shouldn’t Affect Your Career [EXCLUSIVE]

In the criminal justice system, there are sometimes aspiring lawyers like Brian Zulberti who post pictures of their junk online. This is his story.

DOINK DOINK!

In all seriousness, this is indeed our very own follow-up with the notorious Brian Zulberti (Esquire) after his strange story went semi-viral yet again this week. I wrote about here, but we’ll do a quick recap for you.

Zulberti, 30, has been in and out of the blog press for a few months now. After graduating law school, he apparently emailed the Delaware Bar hoping to secure gainful employment as a lawyer. Instead of a resume, however, he attached a photo of himself wearing a sleeveless Villanova t-shirt.

We did ask if he did that on purpose or by accident (he addresses that below), but what happened next was the real kicker to the balls of his legal career. Google searches of his name returned semi-SFW and NSFW selfies, his story went viral, his lawyer aspirations were K.I.A., and his name was all but ruined.

Fast forward a few months: Zulberti has now apparently fully embraced the ridiculousness of his situation. He has his own website, as well as business cards reading “Brian Zulberti, Esquire.” He lives on donations from generous professionals (but he won’t get much into that), and has parlayed his infamy into a cause most of us can at least sympathize with at face… he doesn’t think anyone’s career should be ruined by what they put on social media.

Whether he’s just playing victim or not is for you to decide, but it’s hard to argue with his central thesis. A lot of people… a lot of people… get fired over photos, comments, videos, etc. that they post online. Sure, these things aren’t exactly private, but Brian seems to think they shouldn’t have to be (to wit, he has photos of his naked, swinging junk all over his site). In Brian’s World, you should be able to express yourself without fear of professional reprisal.

Here’s our chat with him:

The Inquisitr: I should probably ask about the Villanova t-shirt photo… the notorious “guns” shot. Did you intentionally send that out to the Delaware Bar in lieu of a resume?

Brian Zulberti: The original e-mail I sent out to members of the Delaware Bar was a short e-mail inquiring whether any of the attorneys were hiring or knew of anyone who was. The idea was that if, in fact, any of them knew of a potential position, I would follow it up with all the typical stuff you send in with a job application – resume, references, and writing samples. The e-mail did include the picture of me in a sleeveless shirt, but I have never understood why it has been deemed some sort of “guns” picture. It wasn’t like I was flexing in the photograph, I just happen to have nice arms.

IQ: Did your difficulty in finding a job as a lawyer directly inform your decision to start your social movement (and website), or was that something you intended to do all along?

BZ: It would be more accurate to say that difficulties in finding a job as a lawyer, namely all the negative publicity I received after my racy Facebook photos surfaced everywhere from here to Guam, gave me the opportunity to advocate social issues. I wouldn’t go so far as to say I “started” a social movement. But the publicity and press I received enabled me to speak to millions of people about issues I already felt strongly about.

IQ: We’re calling it a “social movement” for now. Seems easier. Can you explain in layman’s for us?

BZ: Yes I can. My beliefs on social media and employment are quite simple, really. Yet somehow, almost every single news source that has covered me has completely misconstrued everything I am about in order to have an easier time discrediting me or making the whole story into a joke.

In the simplest possible terms, I believe that you should be able to post whatever you want on your social media networks without fear of negative consequences at work, subject to a few small exceptions. These exceptions include (a) posting about participation in illegal activities, (b) posting about your place of employment, your bosses, or coworkers, and (c) posting while you are supposed to be working.

IQ: What are you trying to accomplish?

BZ: First and foremost, I am trying to get people to understand that there is a problem and do something about it. American workers, and especially professionals, have lost their ability to control their own social lives. Instead, they have been weighed down with a set of conservative expectations for the “sorts of things professionals do” in their private lives and they get punished or fired for stepping out of the cookie-cutter mold we have created.

I am trying to get Americans to wage this war on two fronts. First, through the legislative and judicial arenas. There are battles going on as we speak about whether it is appropriate for employers to do things like institute complete social media bans for all their employees or require social media passwords from their employees.

Second, I urge Americans to stand up to their employers and refuse to live their lives like they are in a 24 hour a day, 7 day a week job interview. If one person dares to be herself and document, heaven forbid, her actual life on social media, that person will likely be fired and replaced by some corporate drone. But if people rise up everywhere and deny the right for employers to deem them the “face of the company,” even on a Friday night on the dance floor, changes can be made in society at large.

I have lots of plans for my website. While it currently has a rather small list of social media firings, I want to expand that list so viewers can see the sheer extent of social media related firings. I want to research and catalog current social media legislation and laws in each state. I want to document all relevant judicial precedent and keep viewers updated on current and (likely) future litigation. Essentially, I want my site to be the most comprehensive database in existence for students, attorneys, or anyone else who wants to be able to research the current state of the law as it applies to social media in America.

IQ: The legal blog “Above the Law” seems to have taken a special interest in you. Have you ever talked with anyone at Above the Law, including Staci Zaretsky?

[Psst… Zarestky wrote this piece on Zulberti, and others]

BZ: Over the past couple months I have been in pretty regular contact with Staci Zaretsky. Our relationship is actually quite friendly. One of these days I need to get up to New York and have a beer with her. People ask me why we are so friendly when her articles have often been quite critical but she is just doing her job. And I am fighting for what I believe in. And to be honest, any press for me is good press right now.

IQ: What kind of response have you gotten for your efforts? Supportive, critical, a mix of some kind?

BZ: I would be lying if I said that most of the response has been good. But when someone steps up and creatively challenges the status quo, challenges the way things have always been done, and challenges what should be seen as “appropriate,” odds are there is going to be a backlash. Most of my detractors haven’t taken two seconds to actually see what I am about. And a lot of them keep repeating the same irrelevant mantra about how “this guy is such an idiot and he is never going to get a job now.” I think I’ve made it quite clear that I have potentially and willingly sacrificed my career to do something I consider far more important.

However, I have also heard from thousands of fans and supporters through various mediums such as Facebook messages, e-mails, telephones, or even on the street. There isn’t a day that goes by when I don’t hear from fans who tell me that I am a hero and an inspiration, or that I helped them have the courage to fight for something unpopular. I have had multiple young gay males tell me that I helped give them the courage to come out of the closet. While a lot of my detractors may be pulling in hefty six figure salaries as they judge me for career suicide, I am tangibly helping change lives for the better. And I can’t state strongly enough how honored I am to be able to help and inspire people.

IQ: I have to ask about money. Are you willing to talk about donations you’ve received? How much are you puling down?

BZ: As I’ve been saying, my donations are confidential. It isn’t hard to see why. A lot of my donors are professionals who agree with the spirit of what I am doing but don’t really want it to be known that they wrote a check for $1,000 to a guy who flaunts his penis online. I have received substantial donations. But I have need of hundreds of thousands more to enable me to carry out all my plans and be an effective advocate. Every day there are people who ask me stupid questions like, “Why would anyone donate to you? You don’t even do anything. All you did was fail to get a job and then take your clothes off.” Those people either haven’t visited my website, watched my videos, or read my blogs. Or they are just dumb as bricks.

IQ: What are you currently doing for a job? Do you still want to be a lawyer?

BZ: At the moment, I have absolutely no time for a job. I am traveling around, performing media obligations, speaking at colleges and law schools, running my website, and touring through the United States. And I have my donors to thank because without them I would not have the ability to do this, spread my message, and fight for what I believe in. Whether I end up tangibly practicing law in the traditional sense is up in the air. I consider the work I am doing now much more important.

IQ: High School question: Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

BZ: I could see myself anywhere from practicing law in a small firm, to hosting a reality show, or to anything in between. My future truly is an open book and with all this media and publicity, I am fortunate enough to have opportunities open to me in more fields than I could ever imagine. I do know that I will be writing a book soon.

IQ: Looking forward to it, thanks Brian.

If you’d like to follow Brian Zulberti’s blog and possibly donate to his cause, you can do so here. We’ll leave you with a simple question: Do you think that people should be held accountable for what they put online?