GirlWithNoJob Instagram Controversy

Overview

GirlWithNoJob Instagram Controversy refers to a report by The Daily Beast that outlined the relationship between Claudia Oshry, better known as the popular Instagrammer @GirlWithNoJob, her sisters and their mother, right-wing political activist Pamela Geller. After the report was published, a number of since-deleted tweets made by Oshry, which some have called offensive and racist. As a resulte, Oshry's talkshow has been canceled and she has been dropped by her talent agency.

Background

On February 28th, 2018, the Daily Beast^[1] published an article entitled "The Instagram Stars Hiding Their Famous, Muslim-Hating Mom, Pamela Geller." The piece focused on the popularity of the family's various Instagram accounts, which include the handles @GirlWithNoJob and @JackieOProblems, and their attempts to distance themselves from their mother, Pamela Geller. Geller, a right-wing provocateur who has book published by Milo Yiannopoulos, is infamous for her Islamophobic stances and politics.

Developments

The article also included several since-deleted tweets made by Claudia (@GirlWithNoJob). The article's author Taylor Lorenz posted the tweets on Twitter, ^[3] and they feature various Islamophobic and anti-Muslim sentiments, as well as calling former President Barack Obama a Muslim, a popular conspiracy theory. The tweet (shown below) received more than 400 retweets and 1,100 likes.

As a result of the article, The Morning Breath, a morning talk show hosted by Claudia Oshry and her sister Jackie, has been canceled. In a statement, the Oath, who airs the online show said, "The Morning Breath, an Oath social-media show, is being canceled immediately and we have launched an internal investigation and will take other appropriate steps based on the results of the investigation."^[2]

Additionally, Claudia Oshry was dropped from her talent agency, The Creative Artists Agency (CAA).^[5]

Claudia Oshry's Statement

After the article was published, Claudia Oshry made a statement to The Daily Beast, expressing her disappointment. She said:

"We want to be clear to our audience and fans that our political and cultural beliefs are not anti-Muslim or anti-anyone. Our views are separate from our mother’s. Being raised by a single parent, we were taught to make our own choices based on our personal beliefs. We are inspired to think for ourselves and we do. We do not condone discrimination or racist beliefs of any kind."

Following the publishing of the tweets, on February 28th, she posted a video on Instagram in which she apologizes for the tweets. The post (shown below) received more than 900,000 views and 40,000 likes in 24 hours.^[4]

Jackie Oshry's Statement

On March 1st, Jackie Oshry posted a note on Instagram.^[12] The post (shown below) expresses her apologies and regrets about her own previous comments. The post received more than 12,000 likes in 24 hours.

Online Reaction

Following the release of the article, many fans of both the Oshry sister and Pamela Geller responded negatively to the article. These responses have ranged from calling the journalism in the article "irresponsible" to accusing Lorenz of doxxing the family to threatening Lorenz.

That day, @arcadeyblog tweeted,^[6] "@TaylorLorenz What was the aim of the Girl With No Job expose? To ruin their careers because of tweets they posted 6 years ago and because of their mother's political views? Feels unnecessary and witch hunt-y. Nobody is following those girls for politics." The post (shown below, left) received more than 40 retweets and 250 likes.

Far-right Political commentator Cassandra Fairbanks tweeted,^[7] ">bitches about harassment and people not trusting the media >doxes young women over their mother’s political views, placing them in danger @TaylorLorenz, you are a hypocrite." The post (shown below, center) received more than 800 retweets and 1,900 likes in 24 hours.

Breitbart editor Charlie Nash tweeted,^[8] "Irresponsible journalism from @TaylorLorenz about Pam Geller's children. I won't even link to the article here. Typical guilt by association trash. I wonder how Daily Beast writers would feel if their children were plastered on news with 'REVEALED: CHILDREN OF FAR-LEFT WRITER.'" The tweet (shown below, right) received more than 10 retweets and 30 likes.

The following day, Lorenz tweeted numerous comments that people had been attempting to dox her and threaten her. She tweeted,^[9] "Crazy how the people ranting at me for 'doxxing' famous people by simply pointing out their racist posts and family connection will spend all day attempting to doxx me 🙃."

Additionally, she tweeted^[10] (shown below, center), "Trolls have been stalking my Instagram to “prove” I’m a lib but thanks to this photo from CPAC and many others from when I covered the ‘16 election, ppl now think I’m a secret Trump supporter(?!) Just to clear things up." She also tweeted^[11] (shown below, right) that she had seen threats to her on the Morning Breath Facebook page, which said "Who the f is this Taylor bitch I'll gut her like a fish."

External References