Joshua Ostrovsky (born February 18, 1982), known professionally as The Fat Jewish, is an American entrepreneur, social media influencer, author and plus size model.

Early life

Ostrovsky was born and raised in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

to a

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n-born

radiologist Radiology ( ) is the medical specialty that uses medical imaging to diagnose diseases and guide treatment within the bodies of humans and other animals. It began with radiography (which is why its name has a root referring to radiation), but tod ...

father Paul, and a

nutritionist A nutritionist is a person who advises others on matters of food and Human nutrition, nutrition and their impacts on health. Some people specialize in particular areas, such as sports nutrition, public health, or animal nutrition, among other disci ...

mother Rebecca. He grew up in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

on the

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper We ...

.John Sunyer
"Lunch with the FT: The Fat Jew,"
''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'', July 24, 2015.Jon Ronson
"Josh Ostrovsky: 'The internet is like a giant weird orgy',"
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', November 7, 2015.Bee Shapiro
"A Shortcut to Comic Celebrity,"
''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', September 17, 2014. He attended several schools, starting at the Packer school in Brooklyn, and then attending

Trevor Day School Trevor Day School is an independent day school in New York City in the borough of Manhattan. History It was founded in 1930 as The Day School for the Church of the Heavenly Rest, an Episcopal church located on Fifth Avenue at 90th street. I ...

and the

Dwight School Dwight School is a private independent for-profit college preparatory school located on Manhattan's Upper West Side in New York City. Dwight offers the International Baccalaureate curriculum to students ages two through grade twelve. History Fou ...

, both on the Upper West Side. As a very young actor, he appeared in several commercials, including one for Hershey's. After attending

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

and

Skidmore College Skidmore College is a Private school, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Saratoga Springs, New York. Approximately 2,700 students are enrolled at Skidmore pursuing a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Scien ...

and being expelled from both, he enrolled in

State University of New York at Albany The State University of New York at Albany (University at Albany, UAlbany, or SUNY Albany) is a public research university in Albany, New York, United States. Founded in 1844, it is one of four "university centers" of the State University of N ...

, graduating in 2006 with a bachelor of arts in journalism.

Career

Social media

In 2011, Ostrovsky started an

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

account with the handle "TheFatJewish". The account went viral in 2013 after Ostrovsky posted a video parodying

SoulCycle SoulCycle Inc. is a fitness company owned by Equinox Group which offers indoor cycling and spinning workout classes. It was founded in 2006, and has operations in the United States and the United Kingdom. In early 2020, before the COVID-19 pa ...

, in which he led a spin class for homeless people on

Citi Bike Citi Bike is a privately owned public bicycle sharing system serving the New York City boroughs of the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens, as well as Jersey City, New Jersey, Jersey City and Hoboken, New Jersey. Named after lead sponsor Ci ...

s parked on the street.Jeanette Settembre
"Josh (The Fat Jew) Ostrovsky speaks on his new book 'Money Pizza Respect',"
''

New York Daily News The ''Daily News'' is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, New Jersey. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson in New York City as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in Tabloid (newspaper format ...

'', November 2, 2015. In 2013, his Instagram account was suspended due to inappropriate content. In response, he organized a rally held outside Instagram's New York office. The protest was

live-streamed Livestreaming, live-streaming, or live streaming is the streaming media, streaming of video or Digital audio, audio in real-time communication, real time or near real time. While often referred to simply as ''streaming'', the real-time nature ...

Vice.com ''Vice'' (stylized in all caps) is a Canadian-American magazine focused on lifestyle, arts, culture, and news/politics. It was founded in 1994 in Montreal as an alternative punk magazine, and its founders later launched the youth media company V ...

, and his account was restored after 15 minutes. In 2014 ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' wrote that "he has parlayed a profane sense of humor that mocks the tropes of social-media culture and the hipsters who propagate them; an apparent affection for pot, pets and grandparents; and his own slovenly, outlandish physical appearance… into a huge web following." ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' magazine named Ostrovsky to its 2015 list of The 30 Most Influential People on the Internet. As of December 2022, he had over 10 million followers on Instagram.Caitlin Brody
"The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills recap: 'Sweet Georgia Jayne',"
''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'', March 7, 2017. Ostrovsky has been hired to do product placement in his social media posts by companies including

Burger King Burger King Corporation (BK, stylized in all caps) is an American multinational chain store, chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacks ...

Virgin Mobile Virgin Mobile is a wireless communications brand used by seven independent brand-licensees worldwide. Virgin Mobile branded wireless communications services are available in Ireland, Canada, Colombia, Chile, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emi ...

Apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

Budweiser Budweiser () is an American-style pale lager, a brand of Belgian company AB InBev. Introduced in 1876 by Carl Conrad & Co. of St. Louis, Missouri, Budweiser has become a large selling beer company in the United States. Budweiser is a filte ...

, Weight Watchers, and

Stella Artois Stella Artois ( , ) is a pilsner beer, first brewed in 1926 by Brouwerij Artois in Leuven, Belgium. In its original form, the beer is 5.2 per cent Alcohol by volume, ABV, the country's standard for pilsners. The beer is sold in many EU countrie ...

. In 2015 he signed on as a spokesperson for Seamless.Ella Ceron
"The Fat Jewish Will Show at Fashion Week,"
''

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

'', August 17, 2015.

Swish Beverages

Ostrovsky is a co-founder of Swish Beverages, which launched White Girl Rosé in 2015, followed by the Babe family of sparkling canned wines. In June 2019, it was announced that

Anheuser-Busch InBev Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, known as AB InBev, is an American-Belgian Multinational corporation, multinational Drink industry, drink and brewing company, brewing company based in Leuven, Belgium. It is the largest brewer in the world, and in 20 ...

had acquired Swish Beverages, marking the brewer's largest wine investment to date.

Film, television, and commercials

In 2009, Ostrovsky was hired as an entertainment reporter interviewing celebrities on ''

The Daily 10 ''The Daily 10'' (also known as ''The D10'') is an American daily television entertainment news show that aired on cable channel E! from March 2006 to October 2010. Hosts count down the top ten entertainment news stories of the day. Segments In ...

'' on E! He later hosted the rap interview web series ''An Intimate Conversation''. He sold a show parodying the

Williamsburg, Brooklyn Williamsburg is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, bordered by Greenpoint to the north; Bedford–Stuyvesant to the south; Bushwick and East Williamsburg to the east; and the East River to the west. It was an independe ...

hipster culture to

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

in 2013, which went unproduced. In 2014, he signed a deal to develop a scripted series for

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...

, based on his life. He signed with

Creative Artists Agency Creative Artists Agency, LLC (CAA) is an American talent and sports agency based in Los Angeles, California. With 1,800 employees in March 2016, it is regarded as an influential company in the talent agency business and manages numerous client ...

in 2015,Natalie Jarvey
"The Fat Jew, Josh Ostrovsky, Signs With CAA,"
''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'', August 13, 2015. and that year began making regular appearances on

Bloomberg News Bloomberg News (originally Bloomberg Business News) is an international news agency headquartered in New York City and a division of Bloomberg L.P. Content produced by Bloomberg News is disseminated through Bloomberg Terminals, Bloomberg T ...

, starred in a

Bud Light Anheuser-Busch, a wholly owned subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, is the largest brewing company in the United States, with a market share of 45 percent in 2016. The company operates 12 breweries in the United States and nearly 20 in oth ...

commercial that aired during

Super Bowl XLIX Super Bowl XLIX was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2014 NFL season, 2014 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion 2014 New England Patriots season, New Eng ...

, and appeared in the music video for

DNCE DNCE is an American dance-rock band consisting of lead singer Joe Jonas, drummer Jack Lawless, and guitarist JinJoo Lee. Bassist and keyboardist Cole Whittle was a part of the band from when it started in 2015 to when it went on hiatus in 2018. ...

's "

Cake by the Ocean "Cake by the Ocean" is the debut single by American band DNCE. It was released through Republic Records as the lead single from their debut extended play, '' Swaay'', on September 18, 2015. It was also included on their self-titled debut studio ...

", as well as "

Boys A boy is a young male human. The term is commonly used for a child or an adolescent. When a male human reaches adulthood, he is usually described as a man. Definition, etymology, and use According to the ''Merriam-Webster Dictionary'', a boy ...

" by

Charli XCX Charlotte Emma Aitchison (born 2 August 1992), known professionally as Charli XCX, is a British singer and songwriter. She began posting songs on Myspace in 2008 before entering the London rave scene. Signing a recording contract with Asylum Re ...

. He has appeared as himself in numerous reality television series, including ''3AM'' and ''

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills ''The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills'' (abbreviated as ''RHOBH'') is an American reality television series which has been broadcast on Bravo since October 14, 2010. Developed as the sixth installment of '' The Real Housewives'' franchise, i ...

''. He has also played supporting roles in several films, including the teen comedy ''

Status Update Microblogging is a form of blogging using short posts without titles known as microposts or status updates. Microblogs "allow users to exchange small elements of content such as short sentences, individual images, or video links", which may be the ...

'', starring

Ross Lynch Ross Shor Lynch (born December 29, 1995) is an American actor and singer. He was the lead vocalist of the pop rock band R5 and is one half of the band the Driver Era (with his brother Rocky Lynch). As an actor, he rose to recognition for his ...

and

Olivia Holt Olivia Hastings Holt (born August 5, 1997) is an American actress and singer. She starred in the Disney XD series ''Kickin' It'', List of Disney Channel original films, Disney Channel Original Movie ''Girl vs. Monster'', and the List of program ...

. He was featured in a 2017 ad campaign for

Malibu Rum Malibu () is a coconut flavored liqueur made with white rum, which has an alcohol content by volume of 21.0% (42 proof). Since 2005 the ''Malibu'' brand has been owned by Pernod Ricard, which calls it a "flavored rum", where this designation is ...

. He appears in the documentary '' The American Meme'', which premiered at the 2018

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Enterprises. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. The festival ...

Modeling and fashion

In June 2012, Ostrovsky signed a modeling contract with One Management. He claims to be the world's first male

plus-size model A plus-size model is an individual size 12 and above who is engaged primarily in Model (person), modeling plus-size clothing. Plus-size clothing worn by plus-size models is typically catering for and marketed to either big, tall or overweight men ...

. He appeared in a photo spread in '' Inked'' magazine's May 2015 issue, and was featured on the covers of the magazines ''

treats! ''treats!'' (often referred to as ''Treats'', ''Treats!'', ''Treats Magazine'' or ''Treats! Magazine'') is an American pornographic magazine featuring models and celebrities. ''treats! owner, Steve Shaw, and several media organisations descr ...

'' in 2016 and ''Nude'' in 2017. At

New York Fashion Week New York Fashion Week (NYFW), held in February and September of each year, is a semi-annual series of events in Manhattan typically spanning seven to nine days when international Fashion design, fashion collections are shown to buyers, the pres ...

on September 16, 2015, his Dad Fashion Show debuted his collection of men's apparel.

Book

Ostrovsky formerly hosted a radio show on

Apple Music Apple Music is an audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users can select music to stream to their device on-demand, or listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the sister internet radio stations Apple Musi ...

Beats 1 called ''Money, Pizza, Respect''. The book of the same name, a collection of personal essays and images, was published by

Grand Central Publishing Grand Central Publishing is a book publishing imprint of Hachette Book Group, originally established in 1970 as Warner Books when Kinney National Company acquired the New York City-based Paperback Library. When Time Warner sold their book publis ...

in 2015. The book's cover parodies the cover of

Walter Isaacson Walter Seff Isaacson (born May 20, 1952) is an American journalist who has written biographies of Henry Kissinger, Benjamin Franklin, Leonardo da Vinci, Albert Einstein, Steve Jobs, Jennifer Doudna and Elon Musk. As of 2024, Isaacson is a profes ...

's 2011 biography ''

Steve Jobs Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American businessman, inventor, and investor best known for co-founding the technology company Apple Inc. Jobs was also the founder of NeXT and chairman and majority shareholder o ...

''.

Music

While at

SUNY Albany The State University of New York at Albany (University at Albany, UAlbany, or SUNY Albany) is a public research university in Albany, New York, United States. Founded in 1844, it is one of four "university centers" of the State University of N ...

, Ostrovsky was a member of the hip hop trio

Team Facelift Team Facelift was an American hip hop group based in New York City that signed with Duck Down Records. History The group was founded in 2004 and consisted of its three MCs—Machine, the Fat Jew, Alden Fonda—and one producer, Tommy Mas. The ...

, where he first started going by the name Fat Jew. He has said that the moniker was inspired by one of his counselors at Eisner Camp and by ''

Screw A screw is an externally helical threaded fastener capable of being tightened or released by a twisting force (torque) to the screw head, head. The most common uses of screws are to hold objects together and there are many forms for a variety ...

'' magazine publisher

Al Goldstein Alvin Goldstein (January 10, 1936December 19, 2013) was an American pornographer best known for helping normalize hardcore pornography in the United States. Background Goldstein was born in Williamsburg, Brooklyn to a Jewish family. He attende ...

. Team Facelift formed in 2004, signed with

Duck Down Records Duck Down Music Inc is a New York City based record label, talent management, music-marketing, and consulting company founded by Drew "Dru-Ha" Friedman and Kenyatta "Buckshot" Blake in 1995. In Duck Down's 20-year existence, the company has rele ...

and released the album ''Mixed Emotions'' in 2006.Nick Williams
"Instagram Sensation 'Fat Jew' Is Making Big Bucks With His Crazy Antics,"
''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'', August 18, 2014. They broke up in 2010. In September 2016, Ostrovsky announced his

Major Lazer Major Lazer is an American electronic dance music and DJ trio, which includes record producer Diplo, and DJs Walshy Fire and Ape Drums. They were founded in 2008 by Diplo and Switch, with Switch leaving after three years in 2011. He was the ...

tribute band Major Behavior, formed with DJ Maachew Bentley and billed as the world's first EDM tribute band. Major Behavior toured in 2016 as a part of Ostrovsky's IRL Tour.Kat Bein
"The Fat Jew's Major Lazer Tribute Band Played With Diplo and They're Actually Really Great,"
''Billboard'', May 9, 2017. For the second IRL Tour in 2017, Major Behavior toured with

Dillon Francis Dillon Hart Francis (born October 5, 1987), also known as DJ Hanzel, is an American electronic music producer and DJ. He played a key role in popularizing moombahton and later developed its heavier variants, moombahcore and EDM trap. Earl ...

RL Grime Henry Alfred Steinway (born February 8, 1991), better known by his stage name RL Grime, (previously known as Clockwork) is an American record producer and DJ. RL Grime specializes in trap and bass music and is a member of the Los Angeles electr ...

and

Party Favor A party favor is a small gift given to the guests at a party as a gesture of thanks for their attendance, a memento of the occasion, or simply for fun. History While the term "party favor" is modern, the practice dates back to the classical ...

. Major Behavior was joined onstage by Major Lazer's

Diplo Thomas Wesley Pentz (born November 10, 1978), known professionally as Diplo, is an American DJ and music producer. He is a co-creator and lead member of the electronic dancehall music project Major Lazer; a member of the supergroup LSD (group), ...

during a May 2017 performance in Chicago. In 2018, Ostrovsky hosted a radio show called ''Major Behavior'' on

Diplo's Revolution ''Diplo's Revolution'' is a global-centric electronic dance music satellite channel operated by Sirius XM Radio, broadcasting on Sirius Satellite Radio channel 53, XM Satellite Radio channel 53 and Dish Network channel 6052. The channel was for ...

, an electronic music channel on

SiriusXM Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting corporation headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. The company was formed by the 2008 merge ...

Controversy

In 2015, Ostrovsky was accused of posting

screenshot A screenshot (also known as screen capture or screen grab) is an analog or digital image that shows the contents of a computer display. A screenshot is created by a (film) camera shooting the screen or the operating system An operating sys ...

s of other comedians' jokes on

and

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

without their permission, and with the credits cropped out.Fee, Rob (May 18, 2015)
"Why Stealing Jokes on Social Media is a Bigger Deal Than You Think"
. After several stories were published about this behavior, Ostrovsky edited his past posts to credit the authors of the jokes.Jesse David Fox

Vulture.com ''Vulture'' is an American entertainment news website. It is the standalone pop culture section of ''New York'' magazine. Its tagline is "Devouring Culture". History ''Vulture'' debuted in April 2007 as an entertainment blog on nymag.com, the w ...

, August 21, 2015.

Personal life

Ostrovsky is an

ordained minister In Christianity, a minister is a person authorised by a church or other religious organization to perform functions such as teaching of beliefs; leading services such as weddings, baptisms or funerals; or otherwise providing spiritual guidance ...

and has officiated many wedding ceremonies, including a spontaneous wedding at Nikki Beach in Miami in December 2017.

Bibliography

* ''Money Pizza Respect'' (

, 2015)

Filmography

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ostrovsky, Josh 1982 births Living people American television hosts Jewish American comedians Jewish male comedians American Internet celebrities American people in the wine industry Dwight School alumni Plus-size models University at Albany, SUNY alumni People from the Upper West Side Comedians from Manhattan Male actors from Manhattan Musicians from Manhattan Businesspeople from Manhattan 21st-century American comedians Participants in American reality television series 21st-century American Jews American people of Russian descent