‘The Fat Jew’, Josh Ostrovsky, Accused Of Plagiarism Over Social Media [Video]
Josh Ostrovsky, known as “The Fat Jew,” has been accused of plagiarism in the past, and the backlash as freshened as the 30-year-old actor has signed with talent agency CAA. The Fat Jew has been called out on social media several times for plagiarism, and according to Time magazine, “comedians have long accused Ostrovsky of ripping off their jokes and posting them without credit.”
Time noted that The Fat Jew was one of the most influential people on the internet this year because big brands wanted him to endorse their products. However, several times, The Fat Jew was accused of plagiarism. One Facebook user posted about the plagiarism, writing, “The Fat Jew is someone whose entire career is simply stealing jokes from tumblr, [T]witter, etc. He is making a living off of the hard work of other people. The people he steals from are struggling writers, comedians, etc.”
The Fat Jew: Just a small part of a bigger problem http://t.co/LgzDwTw15B pic.twitter.com/KvGfCIg4X2
— Variety (@Variety) August 17, 2015
The user, Maura Quint, continued her plagiarism accusations, claimed that when called out, The Fat Jew just shrugs it off. “When called out on his continued theft he either ignores it, says ‘whoops’ or says ‘geez I guess an intern stole it!’ ” According to Time,a Storify article written by Kevin Kelly, and titled “Top 50 Jokes @TheFatJewish Bogarted From The Internet,” chronicles jokes The Fat Jew is accused of stealing, has also circulated the internet. The article includes screen captures as proof from where the jokes originate.
Other comedians, such as Michael Ian Black and Paul Scheer, have posted about The Fat Jew’s plagiarism on Twitter. In an August 16 Twitter post, Paul Scheer wrote, “Now I kinda feel bad because @FATJEW didn’t steal from me. I gotta step up my [I]nstagram game.” Michael Ian Black tweeted, “To me, what makes @fatjew so funny aren’t the stolen jokes he posts, but THE WAY he posts them.”
According to Hollywood Reporter, The Fat Jew has over 5.6 million followers on Instagram, and has used his internet fame to launch a career. The Fat Jew has signed with One Management Agency, a modelling company. He also recently started selling his wine, White Girl Rose, and is expected to publish a book with Grand Central Publishing. The Fat Jew’s book will be called Money Pizza Respect.
Despite these successes, The Fat Jew is experiencing the backlash surrounding his plagiarism accusations. Although The Fat Jew was rumored to have been working on a project with Comedy Central, according to Entertainment Weekly, that project has since been cancelled. Comedy Central claimed they were working on a project with The Fat Jew “several months ago,” but the project never made it to the pilot stage, and was dropped several months before The Fat Jew signed with CAA.
[Image credit: Ilya S. Savenok / Getty Images]
