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 or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

to a

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

n-born

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

father Paul, and a

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

mother Rebecca. He grew up in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

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 West ...

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

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Ni ...

'', 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 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

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

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', 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 Episcopalian church located on Fifth Avenue at 90th street. ...

and the Dwight School, 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 research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

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 2,650 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, commonly referred to as the University at Albany, UAlbany or SUNY Albany, is a public research university with campuses in Albany, Rensselaer, and Guilderland, New York. Founded in 1844, it is one ...

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

Career

Swish Beverages

Ostrovsky is a co-founder of

Swish Beverages Swish Beverages (stylized as SWISH) is an American wine brand produced in California. It was launched with the release of White Girl Rosé in 2015. History Founding Swish Beverages was formed by social media personality Josh Ostrovsky (aka "The ...

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

Social media

In 2011, Ostrovsky started an Instagram account with the handle "TheFatJewish". The account went viral in 2013 after Ostrovsky posted a video parodying

SoulCycle SoulCycle 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, Canada, and the United Kingdom. In early 2020, before the COVID-19 ...

, 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, and Hoboken, New Jersey. Named after lead sponsor Citigroup ...

s parked on the street.Jeanette Settembre
"Josh (The Fat Jew) Ostrovsky speaks on his new book 'Money Pizza Respect',"
'' New York Daily News'', 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 is streaming media simultaneously recorded and broadcast in real-time over the internet. It is often referred to simply as streaming. Non-live media such as video-on-demand, vlogs, and YouTube videos are technically streamed, but no ...

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

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

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' 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 continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

'' 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 digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...

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

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 the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Colombia, Chile, Kuwait, Saudi Ara ...

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ' ...

Budweiser Budweiser () is an American-style pale lager, part of 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'' may also refer to an unrela ...

, 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 ABV, the country's standard for pilsners. The beer is also sold in other countries like the UK, Ir ...

. In 2015 he signed on as a spokesperson for

Seamless Seamless may refer to: * Seamless (company), an online food ordering company * "Seamless", a 2015 song by Sabrina Carpenter from '' Eyes Wide Open'' * "Seamless", a song by American Head Charge from the 1999 album ''Trepanation'' and the 2001 alb ...

.Ella Ceron
"The Fat Jewish Will Show at Fashion Week,"
'' New York'', August 17, 2015.

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. As of the 2020 United ...

hipster culture to

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

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

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programmin ...

, 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. It is regarded as an influential company in the talent agency business and manages numerous clients. In March 2016, CAA had 1,800 emplo ...

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 Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...

'', 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 Tele ...

, starred in a Bud Light commercial that aired during

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

, 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 EP, ''Swaay'', on September 18, 2015. It is also included on their debut studio album, '' DNCE'' (2016). ...

", 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 described as a man. Definition, etymology, and use According to the ''Merriam-Webster Dictionary'', a boy is "a ...

" by

Charli XCX Charlotte Emma Aitchison (born 2 August 1992), known professionally as Charli XCX, is an English singer and songwriter. Born in Cambridge and raised in Start Hill, Essex, she began posting songs on Myspace in 2008, which led to her discovery ...

. 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 ''RHOBH'') is an American reality television series which has been broadcast on Bravo since October 14, 2010. Developed as the sixth installment in ''The Real Housewives'' franchise, it has ...

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

Ross Lynch Ross Shor Lynch (born December 29, 1995) is an American actor, singer, and musician. 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 recogniti ...

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'', Disney Channel Original Movie '' Girl vs. Monster'', and the Disney Channel Original Series '' I Didn't Do It''. Fr ...

. He was featured in a 2017 ad campaign for

Malibu Rum Malibu is a coconut flavored liqueur, made with Caribbean rum, and possessing an alcohol content by volume of 21.0 % (42 proof). As of 2017 the ''Malibu'' brand is owned by Pernod Ricard, who calls it a "flavored rum", where this design ...

. 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 Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. Tribeca was f ...

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 Tall or Overw ...

. He appeared in a photo spread in '' Inked'' magazine's May 2015 issue, and was featured on the covers of the magazines '' treats!'' 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 7–9 days when international fashion collections are shown to buyers, the press, and the general publ ...

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 a music, audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users select music to stream to their device on-demand, or they can listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the Internet radio stations Apple M ...

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 Warner Communications acquired the Paperback Library. When Time Warner sold their book publishing business to Hache ...

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

Walter Isaacson Walter Seff Isaacson (born May 20, 1952) is an American author, journalist, and professor. He has been the President and CEO of the Aspen Institute, a nonpartisan policy studies organization based in Washington, D.C., the chair and CEO of CNN, ...

's 2011 biography '' Steve Jobs''.

Music

While at

SUNY Albany The State University of New York at Albany, commonly referred to as the University at Albany, UAlbany or SUNY Albany, is a Public university, public research university with campuses in Albany, New York, Albany, Rensselaer, New York, Rensselae ...

, Ostrovsky was a member of the hip hop trio Team Facelift, where he first started going by the name Fat Jew.Joseph Barracato
"Strange Sight, Unique Sound,"
''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

'', October 6, 2007. He has said that the moniker was inspired by one of his counselors at Eisner Camp and by ''

Screw A screw and a bolt (see '' Differentiation between bolt and screw'' below) are similar types of fastener typically made of metal and characterized by a helical ridge, called a ''male thread'' (external thread). Screws and bolts are used to f ...

'' magazine publisher

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

. 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 rel ...

and released the album ''Mixed Emotions'' in 2006.Nick Williams
"Instagram Sensation 'Fat Jew' Is Making Big Bucks With His Crazy Antics,"
'' Billboard'', August 18, 2014. They broke up in 2010. In September 2016, Ostrovsky announced his

Major Lazer Major Lazer is an American electronic dance music DJ trio, which includes record producer Diplo, and DJs Walshy Fire and Ape Drums. It originates from Kingston, Jamaica, and was founded in 2008 by Diplo and Switch, with Switch leaving after ...

tribute band Major Behavior, formed with DJ Maachew Bentley and billed as the world's first

EDM EDM or E-DM may refer to: Music * Electronic dance music * Early Day Miners, American band Science and technology * Electric dipole moment * Electrical discharge machining * Electronic distance measurement *Entry, Descent, and landing demonstrat ...

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 by the stage name DJ Hanzel, is an American electronic music producer and DJ. Early life Francis was born in Los AngelesAhmed, Insanul (March 13, 2012Who Is Dillon Francis?Complex. Retri ...

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 as an aid to frivolity. Occasions It is traditional in some Western cultures for the guests at b ...

. Major Behavior was joined onstage by Major Lazer's Diplo 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 52, XM Satellite Radio channel 52 and Dish Network channel 6052. The channel was form ...

, an electronic music channel on

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

Controversy

In 2015, Ostrovsky was accused of posting screenshots of other comedians' jokes on Instagram and

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

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, August 21, 2015.

Personal life

Ostrovsky and

blogger A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...

Katie Sturino were married in 2014; they announced their divorce in 2016. Ostrovsky and Caitlin King have a son named Buddy, born in February 2021. 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 guid ...

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 male comedians American Internet celebrities American winemakers Plus-size models University at Albany, SUNY alumni People from the Upper West Side Comedians from New York City Male actors from New York City Musicians from New York City Businesspeople from New York City 21st-century American comedians Participants in American reality television series 21st-century American Jews