--- title: The Fat Jew: Backlash Over Plagiarism Accusations Follow CAA Deal description: Josh Ostrovsky, known on social media as The Fat Jew, has long been accused of ripping off comedians' jokes canonical: https://time.com/4000711/fat-jew-backlash/ author: Nolan Feeney article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-17T19:57:43.000Z article:modified_time: 2024-01-24T13:39:58.000Z og:title: 'The Fat Jew' Called Out for Plagiarism After Talent Deal og:description: Josh Ostrovsky, who's long been accused of stealing jokes, signed with CAA og:url: https://time.com/4000711/fat-jew-backlash/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt09d4948056985a66/69885fafa988ca29946b3f15/josh-ostrovsky-fat-jew.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2476 og:image:height: 1393 og:image:alt: Josh Ostrovsky - The Fat Jew og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'The Fat Jew' Called Out for Plagiarism After Talent Deal twitter:description: Josh Ostrovsky, who's long been accused of stealing jokes, signed with CAA twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt09d4948056985a66/69885fafa988ca29946b3f15/josh-ostrovsky-fat-jew.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 'The Fat Jew' Is Being Called Out for Plagiarism After Talent Deal > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=decabca5-3d98-4b92-969c-f32137f668bc&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: 5 Elements of A Viral Video [Watch (HLS stream): 5 Elements of A Viral Video](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/vgQtqA8c.m3u8) (1:31)  _Published 2015-06-22. 5 Elements of A Viral Video_  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Updated: Jan 24, 2024 1:39 PM UTCPublished: Aug 17, 2015 7:57 PM UTC  Josh "The Fat Jew" Ostrovsky at the 2015 Nike Basketball 3ON3 Tournament on Aug. 7, 2015 in Los Angeles. Josh "The Fat Jew" Ostrovsky at the 2015 Nike Basketball 3ON3 Tournament on Aug. 7, 2015 in Los Angeles. David Livingston—Getty Images  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Updated: Jan 24, 2024 1:39 PM UTCPublished: Aug 17, 2015 7:57 PM UTC Josh Ostrovsky, better known on the web as the Fat Jew, made TIME’s list of the [most influential people on the Internet](http://time.com/3732203/the-30-most-influential-people-on-the-internet/) this year because brands were shelling out big bucks to get the attention of his audience. The only problem is, as TIME noted, comedians have long accused Ostrovsky of ripping off their jokes and posting them without credit. The backlash against him has renewed since last Thursday, when the 30-year-old [signed a deal with CAA](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/fat-jew-josh-ostrovsky-signs-815198), one of Hollywood’s top talent agencies. A man named Kevin Kelly assembled a Storify post featuring fifty jokes Ostrovsky has [posted without attribution](https://storify.com/KKelly/the-fat-jew-cometh) alongside their sources, while comedians such as Michael Ian Black and Paul Scheer have spoken out against Ostrovsky [on Twitter](http://www.avclub.com/article/anti-fatjew-twitter-sentiment-reaches-fever-pitcha-223953). One Facebook post calling Ostrovsky out, from Maura Quint, [was widely circulated](https://www.facebook.com/MauraQuintEssence/posts/891704754253894): --- > “” --- The backlash appears to be making an impact now. Comedy Central confirmed to the website Splitsider that it is [no longer developing a project](http://splitsider.com/2015/08/comedy-vs-the-fat-jew/) with Ostrovsky, though the network told _Entertainment Weekly_ that the it fell through [“several months ago.”](http://www.ew.com/article/2015/08/17/josh-ostrovsky-fat-jew-comedy-central-deal-dropped) A rep for Seamless, which featured Ostrovsky in an marketing campaign, told _Death and Taxes_ that the company has [“no current plans to work with him in the future”](http://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/259908/seamless-is-no-longer-working-with-the-fat-jew/) but that it was “unable to comment” on the plagiarism accusations. ### Biopic Actors and Their Real-Life Counterparts  Meryl Streep plays Emmeline Pankhurst in Suffragette Focus; Topical Press Agency/Getty Images  Michael Fassbender plays Steve Jobs in Steve Jobs Universal; Bob Riha Jr—Getty Images  Ellen Page plays Stacie Andree in Freeheld Lionsgate; Tom Spader—AP  Joseph Gordon Levitt plays Philippe Petit in The Walk Sony Pictures; Dave Pickoff—AP  Johnny Depp plays James 'Whitey' Bulger in Black Mass Warner Brothers; AP  André Benjamin plays Jimi Hendrix in All Is By My Side Patrick Redmond—XLrator Media; Photoshot/Getty Images  Adrien Brody plays Harry Houdini in Houdini. History Channel; Hulton Archive/Getty Images  Chadwick Boseman plays James Brown in Get On Up. Universal Pictures; Gilles Petard—Redferns/Getty Images  Ashton Kutcher plays Steven Jobs in Jobs. Open Road Films; Tom Munnecke/Getty Images  Cate Blanchett plays Bob Dylan in I'm Not There. Weinstein Co.; Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images  James Franco plays James Dean in James Dean. Getty Images (2)  Meryl Streep plays Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady. Weinstein Co.; Hulton Archive/Getty Images  Benedict Cumberbatch plays Julian Assange in The Fifth Estate. Disney; Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images  Anthony Hopkins plays Alfred Hitchcock in Hitchcock. Fox Searchlight; NBC/Getty Images  Salma Hayek plays Frida Kahlo in Frida. Miramax; Popperfoto/Getty Images  Gary Oldman plays Sid Vicious in Sid and Nancy. MGM; Richard E. Aaron—Redferns/Getty Images  Denzel Washington plays Malcolm X in Malcolm X. Warner Bros.; Truman Moore—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images  Leonardo DiCaprio plays J. Edgar Hoover in J. Edgar. Warner Bros.; Bachrach/Getty Images  Ben Kingsley plays Gandhi in Gandhi. Columbia; Gamma-Keystone/Getty Images  Michelle Williams plays Marilyn Monroe in My Week With Marilyn. Weinstein Co.; NBC/Getty Images  Joaquin Phoenix plays Johnny Cash in Walk the Line. 20th Century Fox; David Gahr/Getty Images  Daniel Day-Lewis plays President Abraham Lincoln in Lincoln. 20th Century Fox; Culture Club/Getty Images  Don Cheadle plays Miles Davis in Miles Ahead. Brian Douglas, Ton Pouw—AP  Demetrius Shipp Jr. plays Tupac Shakur in All Eyez on Me. Summit Entertainment; Raymond Boyd—Getty Images ## Transcript [ NOISE ] What makes a video go viral? Here's our guess. Mishka, I love you. [ NOISE ] Number one, cute animals. [ LAUGH ] Charlie, Charlie bit me. [ MUSIC ] [ FOREIGN ] [ MUSIC ] [ UNKNOWN ], we're going to Disneyland. Oh, my god. Number two, cute kids. [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] Number 3, remixes. [ MUSIC ] Whoa, oh my God, oh my God. [ LAUGH ] Oh my God. Whoo. Number four, spontaneity. Look at all those Number five. Cute kids and cute animals. Put this all together and it will certainly end up on your Facebook feed. 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