Illinois real estate agent out of job after sparring with Patton Oswalt on Twitter
CHICAGO _ A Peoria, Ill.-area real estate agent is out of a job after sparring with Emmy-winning comedian Patton Oswalt over Twitter this week.
The argument began Monday when Oswalt mocked President Donald Trump's firing of acting Attorney General Sally Yates on Twitter: "Trump: 'You leave this White House now!' Sally Yates rides bus to city. Becomes a taxi dancer. Leads dance revolt against pimp. Triumphs."
Tony Brust, an agent in Jim Maloof/Realtor's Pekin office, tweeted in response: "Oh (bleep), the little troll has an opinion again," according to the Kansas City Star. Brust's Twitter page was unavailable Wednesday, but social media users saved screenshots of his tweets. He did not return a Chicago Tribune request for comment.
Comedy writer Chris Conroy jumped in the fray and tweeted: "Everyone stop having opinions! You're upsetting Tony Brust!"
Brust replied: "I'm a psychic and I am channeling his wife's opinions."
Oswalt's wife Michelle McNamara, a true crime writer who grew up in Oak Park, died in April 2016 at the age of 46. After Brust tweeted about his late wife, Oswalt posted a series of tweets mocking his real estate listings and noted Tuesday that Brust's Twitter page disappeared: "And it seems to me / You lived your life / like a realtor in Peoria."
"Would've happily ignored Tony Brust if he hadn't sent THIS tweet. But he did and it caught me at a dark moment," Oswalt wrote on Twitter Tuesday.
That same day, Brust was fired from the Jim Maloof firm. Owner Michael Maloof told the Tribune Wednesday "we were made aware that this had gone on and we parted company."
_Chicago Tribune
