Imitation is the most insincere form of flattery…
In the past few months, at least three of Joey Skaggs’ classic performance works have mysteriously resurfaced—-minus the credit, the context, and, of course, the artist himself. From Elon Musk promising to replace judges and juries with his Grok AI, to a TikTok “influencer” teaching New Yorkers how to walk politely, to a national law firm resurrecting The Fat Squad to sell legal services—Skaggs’ art seems to have been reborn through the copy machine of culture.
If plagiarism is the sincerest form of flattery, Joey must be the most loved man in America.
But underneath the irony lies a serious question: as artificial intelligence devours the world’s creative work—scraping, remixing, and regurgitating ideas at scale—what content ownership will artists be left with? Who gets to claim the joke when everyone’s telling it?
Skaggs has spent his life exposing how easily truth can be twisted, and how the media loves a good story—whether it’s real or not. Now, his work is living proof that in the age of AI and viral mimicry, even satire can’t escape being swallowed whole.
So, here’s to keeping art human, authorship honest, and mischief original.
IN THE COURT OF PUBLIC OPINION
JOEY SKAGGS,
Plaintiff,
v.
MORGAN & MORGAN,
Defendant.
COMPLAINT FOR MISAPPROPRIATION OF UNAUTHORIZED SATIRE AND CULTURAL DILUTION
New York, NY — Artist, satirist, and cultural saboteur Joey Skaggs today filed a lawsuit in the Court of Public Opinion against America’s largest personal injury law firm Morgan & Morgan for shamelessly swiping his legendary Fat Squad media hoax and stuffing it into their latest commercial.
For the record, The Fat Squad (est. 1986) was a groundbreaking internationally successful performance art hoax in which comandos were contracted to guard dieters around the clock — tackling them away from Twinkies, escorting them past buffets, and yelling “Drop that donut!” before it hit their lips. It is memorialized in both Andrea Marini’s “Art of the Prank” documentary and Joey Skaggs’ Oral History film series.
Joey Skaggs: The Fat Squad tease:
Morgan & Morgan’s new ad? Blatantly similar — but with all the calories of satire burned off.
THE FACTS
THE CHARGES
Defendant unlawfully adopted Plaintiff’s absurdist concept without permission, thereby reducing art to advertising.
Defendant profited from a concept that wasn’t theirs, without even a courtesy “tip of the wig.”
Defendant forced Mr. Skaggs to endure the trauma of watching his biting social critique watered down into a punchline for legal fees. Symptoms include ironic groaning, eye-rolling, and muttering “I did it first” into the void.
DAMAGES DEMANDED
Plaintiff demands compensation in the form of:
PLAINTIFF’S STATEMENT
“When I created The Fat Squad, it was to satirize America’s obsession with weight control, and consumer excess. To see a law firm steal it and call it comedy? That’s not just plagiarism. That’s malpractice. Artistic malpractice.” —Joey Skaggs, Satirist-Still-At-Large
CONCLUSION
The Fat Squad doesn’t forgive. The Fat Squad doesn’t forget. And if Morgan & Morgan thinks they can out-satire Joey Skaggs… well, let’s just say the Court of Public Opinion is always in session, and the jury is already laughing.
