An Illinois real estate agent is out of a job after making a joke on Twitter about comedian Patton Oswalt’s dead wife, the Chicago Tribune reports.
Jim Maloof, owner of the Jim Maloof/Realtor firm where agent Tony Brust worked, told the Tribune that the firm had “parted company” with Brust following the tweet.
“[W]e were made aware that this had gone on and we parted company,” Maloof said. “We’re kind of a conservative, God-loving, family-oriented company down here and the respect of our fellow man is deep into our culture.”
The contentious back-and-forth between Oswalt and Brust began after the comedian tweeted his support Monday of Sally Yates, the acing attorney general who was ousted after criticizing President Donald Trump’s travel ban.
Brust replied with a tweet pointed in Oswalt’s direction stating, “the little troll has an opinion again.”
Comedy writer Chris Conroy responded to Brust’s comment with, “Everybody stop having opinions! You’re upsetting Tony Brust!”
To which Brust replied, “I’m a psychic and I am channeling his wife’s opinions.”
Oswalt’s wife, true-crime writer Michelle McNamara, died in April 2016 at the couple’s Los Angeles home. She was 46. Oswalt has reflected at length on the loss in various forums.
On Tuesday, Oswalt tweeted the realty firm’s statement on Brust’s comments which stated, “His words and views are not those shared by the company.”
Poor Tony Brust. First of what’s sure to be many emboldened Trumpers who think the Asshole Force Field extends to them: pic.twitter.com/t8r0V4poIO
— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) February 1, 2017
“Poor Tony Brust. First of what’s sure to be many emboldened Trumpers who think the A–hole Force Field extends to them,” Oswalt wrote.
Oswalt also acknowledged the situation on his Facebook page.
“I’m afraid Peoria Realtor is going to be the first in a long line of Trumpers who will realize, on the other side of firings and divorces and black eyes, that Trump’s Teflon Umbrella covers Trump and no one else,” he wrote. “His cabinet and staff are going to learn that as well. That might be fun.”