Why The Fat Jew Should Be TIME’s 2015 Person of the Year

One would be hard pressed to find a more polarizing and controversial public figure in 2015 than Josh Ostrovsky, more widely known to his many fans on the internet as The Fat Jew, or The Fat Jewish. With nearly 7 million followers on Instagram and a quarter of a million Twitter followers, the odds are very likely you’ve come across the Fat Jew’s content at some point.

But the source of the Fat Jew’s content became a topic of heated debate in 2015, with widespread accusations of Ostrovsky lifting, repurposing, and outright plagiarizing some of his most popular Instagram posts. Indeed, in perusing the Fat Jew’s Instagram feed, it’s hard to ignore how much of his viral content was in fact produced by someone else — often without proper accreditation. Ostrovsky’s practice of ripping off other people’s content — often for profit, as more and more businesses capitalized on the Fat Jew’s popularity — led to a widespread public outcry that ultimately derailed Ostrovsky’s contract with Comedy Central, before his pilot even aired.

The Fat Jew’s frequent appropriation of others’ content led to a larger, long-simmering debate about the ownership of content in the digital age. Many rightly pointed out that Ostrovsky is hardly the first to use the tweets and Tumblr posts of others to generate traffic and profit. In fact, many popular websites today have arguably adapted this as a viable, and lucrative, business model.

For serving as the launch pad for this important and vital dialogue, I contend that Josh Ostrovsky should be TIME’s 2015 Person of the Year. Love him or hate him, his actions raised some important questions: Is plagiarism ever okay? Does anybody really “own” content that’s shared publicly on the internet, such as a tweet? What’s the line between retelling or sharing someone’s joke and passing it off as your own?

The truth is, most people have stolen something at some point in their lives. A 2013 Pew Research Center study reported that 80% of those polled admitted to having shoplifted at least once, or taken something that did not belong to them, without paying for it. And I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t guilty of this as well.

Perhaps in some way, the Fat Jew has catalyzed a cathartic process where people can be more open about the things they’ve stolen and shoplifted — content, or otherwise — and in doing so, begin to turn the page. Such a movement alone would be reason enough to name the Fat Jew TIME’s 2015 Person of the Year.

In fact, what the hell, I’ll start. In the interest of full disclosure, here’s a list of everything I’ve ever personally stolen:

4 30-packs of Bic Round Stic Grip pens

2 Casio fx-300MS Scientific Calculators

2 lava lamps

8 bottles of Windex

12 rolls of paper towels

1 Bart Simpson doll

28 packages of Starbursts

3 hand-crafted German nutcrackers

1 Stork Craft Tuscany 4-in-1 Convertible Crib

1 Kolcraft Cozy Soft Portable Crib Mattress

89 cranberry almond Kind bars from the Starbucks at Hawley and Milk Street

1 taxidermied eagle

1 TEKTON 3020 16-oz. wood claw hammer

1 Husqvarna 435 16-Inch 2 Stroke gas powered chainsaw

8 Circuit City gift cards

1 bonsai rosemary plant

3 Johnston Whole Bone-in Country Hams, Hickory Smoked, Aged 6 Months

17 cases of Yoplait Original Strawberry Yogurt

3 spoons

15 forks

2 Memorex 700MB/80-Minute 52x Data CD-R Media 50-Pack Spindles

1 season pass to the Institute of Contemporary Art

1 map of Egypt

14 rotisserie chickens from Boston Market

1 Carolina Panthers wool hat

1 iPod 2

1 iPod 3

2 cats

1 Gibson Maestro acoustic guitar

3 snare drums

2 Mini Decorative Adirondack Style Plain Wood Chairs

1 set of POOF Jarts Lawn Darts

1 Windows 5 installer disc

1 Samsonite Aspire Gr8 boarding bag

23 pairs of Hanes boxer briefs

1 keel-billed toucan skull

92 tweets

3 hula hoops

4 shot glasses

1 barstool

1 American flag

1 Italian flag

15 10-ounce containers of Opti-Free Replenish Multi-Purpose Disinfecting Solution

1 pair of Oakley Fuel Cell sunglasses

8 containers of extra strength Tylenol

1 Wilson NFL Super Grip official football

26 tubes of Crest Whitening Plus Scope toothpaste

5 boxes of Crispix

1 wallet from a department store

1 wallet from a guy’s back pocket

2 frisbees

1 Macbook Pro (using it to write this)

3 bags of Eight O’Clock whole coffee beans

29 3 ounce bags of Utz extra thin pretzels

1 smoke detector

1 24 ounce Weiman Granite Cleaner & Polish

1 plunger

4 zip drives

1 magnet in the shape of Florida

6 post cards from the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum

2 cabbages

1 jar of pickles

4 pairs of Wrangler jeans

1 plastic container of 50 thumbtacks

7 ties (6 regular, 1 bow)

2 moleskin notebooks

1 pastel set with 72 assorted colors

2 packets of cucumber seeds

1 pair of Bushnell PowerView Super High-Powered Surveillance Binoculars

1 Jurassic Park movie poster

7 containers of multivitamins

3 bottles of Heinz Organic Tomato Ketchup

1 Dorcy Floating Waterproof LED Flashlight with Carabineer Clip

1 Swiss Army Knife

1 pillow

The following DVDs:

Con Air

We Are Marshall

October Sky

Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones

The Iron Giant

Captain America

The Descent

Wall-E

Cider House Rules

Collateral Damage

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

End of Days

Sex and the City 2

The Jerk

Rocky 3

The Lego Movie

Analyze This

The Day After Tomorrow

Shakespeare in Love

Spy

Bring it On: All or Nothing

Never Been Kissed

Little Nicky

The Fly

Under Siege

Bridesmaids

A Time to Kill

Love Actually

It’s Complicated

Scream

Knocked Up

Saw 3D: The Final Chapter

In Time

Birth

Into the Woods

Unbreakable

No Strings Attached

Liar Liar

Something’s Gotta Give

Terms of Endearment

You Got Served

The Ides of March

Grumpy Old Men

Mulan

1 DVD player

1 package of Vanity Fair Everyday Napkins (300 count)

1 homemade quilt

3 tubes of L’Oreal Paris Studio Line Mega Hair Gel

1 lava rock from the Craters of the Moon National Monument in Idaho, which visitors were instructed not to remove from the park

1 orange wig

12 rolls of duct tape

1 Monopoly board game

1 bottle of Johnnie Walker, blue label

1 9-pound frozen turkey

1 Houston Rockets basketball jersey

1 shovel

2 pairs of brown shoelaces from Macy’s

1 pair of nail clippers

1 tennis racket

1 Nilight Cree LED Spot Driving Fog Light Led Work Light Bar Mounting Bracket

1 Equinox 4-Piece steak knife set

1 bamboo picture frame

5 packages of Sharpie retractable highlighters

2 boxes of Kleenex

4 issues of Newsweek

4 Kit Kats

1 magnifying glass

1 industrial sized ball of twine

1 Maisto Rock Crawler Extreme Radio Control Vehicle

2 iPhone 6 chargers

2 iPhone 5 chargers

1 roll of 12-inch-by-175-feet bubble wrap

3 sets of Christmas lights

3 canisters of Country Time lemonade drink mix

23 bags of cashews

1 aquarium

5 packages of Hefty everyday party cups (assorted colors)

1 pair of custom Leathercraft Handyman Flex Grip work gloves

1 pair of Sketchers Cottonwood-Cropper steel toed work boots

2 bottles of Sally Hansen nail polish remover with vitamin E and chamomile

10 bottles of Listerine mouthwash

1 ruler

3 issues of Playboy magazine

12 booklets of forever stamps

1 Motorola pager

1 Dust-Off compressed gas keyboard duster

2 Rubix cubes

38 packages of Trident gum

2 Swiffer sweepers

14 shirts from H&M

9 shirts from Banana Republic

5 shirts from Gap

5 shirts from Target

4 shirts from J. Crew

2 shirts from Zara

1 antique Viewmaster

2 screwdrivers

4 16-ounce mason jars

1 skee-ball

22 toothbrushes

32 sticks of beef jerky

Half a Sprite

16 Cadbury eggs

1 Falcon Safety Super Sound Horn

2 life jackets

1 aloe plant

1 Hohner Piedmont Blues Harmonica Set

1 Estwing Sportsman’s hatchet with metal handle

1 Richard Nixon Halloween mask

1 Coleman Self-Inflating Camp Pad with Attached Pillow

9 canisters of spray paint

1 funnel cake starter kit

1 Bellemain Micro-perforated Stainless Steel 5-quart Colander

2 hairnets

1 Jack Lalanne’s Juice Extractor 100th Anniversary Juicer Countertop Machine

2 basketballs

130 nails

6 gallons of gasoline

1 heavyweight truck bed liner

1 Club steering wheel lock

1 1993 Ford F-150

1 NeverKink 8615–25 Series 2000 Ultra Flexible Garden Hose

37 clementines

1 microwave

2 traffic cones

1 poncho

25 bottles of laundry detergent

1 wheelbarrow

4 steel buckets

4 extension cords

16 pairs of socks

1 Rubbermaid 3-step ladder

1 scotch tape dispenser

1 black Schwinn Thrasher Adult Micro Bicycle Helmet

1 Gripmaster Hand Exerciser

2 Aerobie Orbiter Boomerangs

1 Patricola Evoluzione Professional Oboe

13 Bartlett pears

1 Black & Decker 9.6-Volt Cordless Hand Vacuum

2 staplers

1 copy of “Dreams From My Father”

4 Canon ink cartridges

1 dog collar

1 artificial Christmas tree

2 AMC movie passes

2 Washington Nationals season tickets

1 pair of roller blades

1 reflector

1 fire extinguisher

1 set of Dr. Scholl’s Massaging Gel Work Insoles

2 packages of white-out correction tape

2 bags of cotton balls

80 pipe cleaners

1 Acer 23-Inch Screen LED-Lit Monitor

2 pairs of shin guards

1 NASA coffee mug

2 wine decanters

3 pints of donated blood

2 marble paperweights

1 dumbbell

41 birthday cards

1 ZenFresh Rainfall High Pressure Shower Head

Now that felt great. In conclusion, whatever your opinion of him, nobody can deny the Fat Jew’s impact in 2015. And TIME Magazine would be right to name him its Person of the Year.