Why Did Max From 'Catfish' Leave the Show? To Pursue a Career in Filmmaking

When you think about MTV's Catfish, the name that comes to mind is often Nev Schulman, the show's longtime host and one of the creators of the popular series. But Nev isn't the only host on the show. People who have watched the show from the beginning likely remember the name Max Joseph. Max used to be the co-host of Catfish and was also the series' co-developer. After Season 7, however, Max disappeared from the show. So, what happened to him?

In August 2018, Max made the decision to leave Catfish. The then-35-year-old shared an official statement explaining his departure. "Hey guys, the time has come, sadly, for me to move on from Catfish. Working on this show for the last seven years has been one of the most meaningful experiences of my life. I’ve learned a lot about myself, my country, and human nature in general. Nev and I have become brothers and our bromance has blossomed before your eyes," he said.

“For a while now, I have been straddling two careers as TV host and filmmaker and, while this level of busy-ness is a dream come true, my life can no longer sustain it. With Catfish still going strong after seven seasons, 115 episodes, 31 specials, and showing no sign of slowing down, I feel it is finally the time for me to make my exit."

Max's last episode aired on August 22, 2018. He has since been replaced by new host Kamie Crawford. As Max said in his statement, he was getting fairly busy. In 2015, he wrote and directed his first feature film, We Are Your Friends, starring Wes Bentley and Zac Efron. Unfortunately for him, the movie was a huge box office flop. Still, he left Catfish with a desire to continue his work.

Max had directed a number of documentary short films and one full-length documentary on DFA, the iconic NYC record label that targeted indie kids, before he left the show. These days, he's busy working with his wife, Priscilla, on her accessory company called MAXCILA.

He hasn't completely given up on filmmaking, however. In 2017, he created a documentary short called Dicks: Do You Need to Be One to Be a Successful Leader? The short was the first in his "Charismatic Thinker" video essay series, which also includes videos on bookstores and signs (so far). In late 2019, Max had another exciting announcement about a new filmmaking project:

Max started developing a documentary, called 15 Minutes of Shame, along with Monica Lewinsky. It was originally set to be released sometime in 2020 ... but then 2020 happened. As of right now, the doc is still listed as being in development on IMDb, and it doesn't look as though either Max or Monica has given an update on it in a while.

In the meantime, you can still get your fill of Catfish, sans Max, Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on MTV.