‘The Fat Jew’ cancels Santa Monica book event, citing threats

Josh Ostrovsky, the controversial entertainer better known as “The Fat Jew,” canceled a book signing scheduled for Monday at a Santa Monica Barnes & Noble after he claimed he received threats from a “crazy stalker/fan/hater,” Death and Taxes reports.

In a post to his Facebook page, Ostrovsky wrote, “Despite literally my Mom, 13 close friends and 200+ fans who RSVP’d, one faceless person kinda ruined it for everyone. ... I really don’t want someone else to get hurt...especially at an event that is supposed to be fun.”

Ostrovsky’s book, “Money Pizza Respect,” was released Nov. 3 by Grand Central Publishing. The book’s Amazon page notes: “In this, the next milestone of his glorious life, Ostrovsky will attempt to reinvigorate the dying medium of print.”

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Ostrovsky, who maintains an Instagram feed with more than 6 million followers, has been widely criticized for what his critics see as joke theft and plagiarism. He defended himself in an August appearance on the “Today” show, where he said, “The Internet is like a giant Jacuzzi, you know what I mean. There’s all kinds of germs, like, we’re sharing everything.”

Many of those who responded to Ostrovsky’s Facebook post about the cancellation did not sympathize with the entertainer. Los Angeles resident Mike Ginn wrote, “[A] bunch of people who he stole jokes [from] were going to show up and confront him, and when he caught wind of it he canceled it.”

And comedian Marquis Carter responded: “It sucks that this happened to whoever originally wrote this post.”

The anger over Ostrovsky’s alleged plagiarism hasn’t shown any signs of subsiding. Last week, a Twitter user scanned and posted the entirety of Ostrovsky’s book on the social networking site.

Ostrovsky’s detractors have been active on the Amazon page for “Money Pizza Respect,” where the book has an average rating of 2.7 out of five stars.

The fact that Amazon.com supports such blatant plagiarism by allowing this product on their website is appalling to me. This guy is an utter hack and creates none of his content,” one reviewer wrote. “I advise all people to treat The Fat Jew like he treats actual comedians, go to a torrent site and download a copy for free.”

Ostrovsky hasn’t commented further about the cancellation on his social media accounts. He followed up his initial Facebook post with one that reads, “Naps rule, and yeah I like to get dressed like a giant baby and breastfed and smacked around a little bit.”

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