Over 8 seasons, fans of MTV's reality series Catfish feel well-versed in how to spot someone who is lying about who they are online. Viewers think some parts of the show are made up, and it's always hard to tell what it's real and what's just editing on a reality TV series.
There have been some episodes on the show that have gotten people talking, like when Lauren and Derek really did fall in love after meeting on the show. The couple sadly didn't make it, though.
Fans loved seeing Nev Schulman and Max Joseph host the show, but unfortunately, Max Josephs decided to leave during season 7. Let's take a look at the real reason why Max Josephs quit Catfish.
Max's Decision
There are some episodes when the catfishes trick Max and Nev, which can be pretty surprising to see, and Nev and Max always seemed like good friends who really enjoyed making the show together.
In 2018, news broke that Max Joseph quit the show, and he said that he wanted to focus on his filmmaking career.
According to Variety, Max said that working on the show and filming movies was getting to be too much. He tweeted, “While this level of busy-ness [sic] is a dream come true, my life can no longer sustain it."
Max said the show had been "one of the most meaningful experiences of my life" and that he and Nev have a "bromance."
Nev was just as sad as fans about Max's departure: according to Variety, he said, "I'm going to miss him a lot. He's my best friend. Period."
Max's Time On 'Catfish'
When two people co-host a TV show, they definitely need to have opposite personalities or at least stand out enough that it's interesting and entertaining to watch. That was true of Nev and Max: Nev is always chill and likes to talk things out, and when Max was on the reality series, he would often see through someone's inauthentic nature.
There have been some moments when Max has gotten upset or can see through the person that he and Nev are talking to.
In an "Ask Me Anything" on Reddit, someone asked how the show deals with people who want to be on TV and aren't actually in an online relationship. Max answered, "There are more and more fakers trying to get on the show. The first season, that wasn't an issue at all but now it's almost always the issue. Every time we've had a faker you've seen it exposed on the show. BUT I have a feeling that Justin and Artis may have faked us out..."
In the episode that Max was referring to, a man named Justin catfished Artis and pretended to be a woman. This was a rough reveal as Justin came up to them while slow clapping and Justin and Artis got into a big fight with a lot of swearing.
The AMA took place five years ago, and Max talked about directing his movie, We Are Your Friends, which stars Zac Efron. When a fan asked if Max would quit Catfish because of his career, Max said no at the time. He also had a funny joke in response.
Max replied, "No!! I love making Catfish and will continue to do so. However, directing has always been my goal and filmmaking is the thing i love doing most. Plus if I stopped Catfish I would go from a C-level celebrity to a D-level celebrity and I don't think my ego could handle that."
It makes sense that Max Joseph would want to focus on his filmmaking career, and it has been interesting to hear about his experience on Catfish.
Max wrote a piece for Vulture called "My Life As a Minor Celebrity" in 2016 and he talked about how he got involved with the show. He said that he had been directing web videos in L.A. for seven years and he knew Nev because he's friends with his older brother. Nev wanted to know if Max could work on an MTV pilot and he said yes. Max explained that he "needed the money" and thought that networks don't usually pick up pilots.
Max said that while people do recognize him when he's out and about, he knows that he's not "really" famous. Max got really honest and wrote, "But having aspired to be a director, I’ve always counted on communicating to the public from behind the veil of a screen — always maintaining a safe personal distance. I guess I imagined that I could remain hidden there forever. But now that seems like an old-school notion."
According to Cheat Sheet, Max Joseph's been working on some interesting projects. He released a documentary, Bookstores, in 2019, and he's working on an HBO Max doc with Monica Lewinsky called 15 Minutes Of Shame.