One America News Fires Producer Vish Burra Over Antisemitic Cartoon Depicting Jews as Cockroaches

NEW YORK CITY (VINnews) — One America News Network terminated Vish Burra, a producer for “The Matt Gaetz Show,” on Monday following widespread backlash over an AI-generated cartoon he posted depicting Jewish individuals as cockroaches in a “scheming room” marked with the Star of David.

Burra, who served as scriptwriter and booker for the show hosted by former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., referred to the figures as “vermin” in accompanying posts on X, accusing them of working against “MAGA” and “America First” interests.

Network executives deemed the content “highly offensive” and “antisemitic,” a source familiar with the decision told TheWrap, which first reported the firing.

The cartoon, posted last week and quickly deleted, showed cockroaches scattering when a figure resembling Burra entered the room. In a caption, Burra vowed to “expose the vermin in the venomous coalition” and named Susan Lebovitz-Edelman, wife of billionaire investor Joseph Edelman, alleging she sought to remove Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts.

Gaetz initially downplayed the incident in a Saturday post on X, writing: “My producer Vish Burra posted something dumb this week. He knew it was dumb and quickly deleted it. I too have posted dumb things on social media without thinking — some I’ve deleted, some I haven’t. … Vish will too.”

He added that he is “not the internet hall monitor of any of my coworkers” and stated the show does not endorse bigotry “to any group of people, no matter where they live or how they worship.”

OAN anchor Stella Escobedo, who is Jewish, publicly criticized Burra on Sunday, highlighting a series of his recent posts she described as targeting Jews. These included defending a Nazi uniform worn as a Halloween costume and claiming “America First means not being held hostage by a nearly century-old postwar consensus fairytale about what happened in World War 2.” Burra later clarified he was not denying the Holocaust specifically.

Bryan Leib, CEO of Henry Public Relations, praised the network’s action, posting on X: “I will never celebrate someone losing their job but Vish’s constant attack against the Jewish and pro-Israel community was utterly disgusting and indefensible on every level. Referring to Jews as ‘vermin’ was a new low, even for him. I applaud OAN for saying no to antisemitism.”

OAN declined to comment when reached by multiple outlets. Burra hung up when contacted by TheWrap.

Burra previously worked for disgraced former Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., and has faced scrutiny for past controversial behavior.