That
is
Sam
Bankman-Fried.
Allegedly.
The
latest
sketch
from
inside
the
courtroom
at
his
trial
appears
to
have
accidentally
captured
the
goofy
boy
billionaire’s
alter
ego
Tyler
Durden.
You
know
what
they
say:
the
first
rule
of
Fight
Club
is
you
do
not
talk
about
using
client
funds
to
bail
out
Alameda
Capital.
Given
the
official
sketches
coming
out
of
his
criminal
trial,
it
wouldn’t
be
crazy
for
Bankman-Fried
to
try
to
get
some
better
images
circulating.
But
there’s
a
fine
line
between
sprucing
up
the
public
image
and
recasting
yourself
as
an
anime
hero.
Winning
the
courtroom
sketch
battle
is
all
the
rage
these
days.
Donald
Trump
recently
shared
this
image:
That
guy’s
last
trial
was
a
civil
disturbance
charge
that
ended
up
with
the
death
penalty
so
I’m
not
sure
Trump
should
be
too
enthusiastic
about
this
development.
That
the
portrait
is
apparently
the
product
of
one
Peter
Gerard
Scully,
a
rapist,
sex
trafficker,
and
child
sex
abuser
sentenced
to
life
in
prison
plus
129
years
might
be
another
reason
to
shy
away
from
it.
As
for
Bankman-Fried,
the
new
artwork
definitely
departs
from
the
official
iconography:
The
above
sketch
of
former
Alameda
CEO
Caroline
Ellison
perfectly
tracks
courtroom
artist
Jane
Rosenberg’s
aesthetic
of
grim
expressionism.
Remember
when
Rosenberg
caught
Tom
Brady
deflating
or
Trump
contemplating
a
raid
on
Whoville?
Whenever
Rosenberg
tackles
a
courtroom
scene
the
result
is
never
a
straightforward
portrait,
but
a
parade
of
bleak
caricatures
that
capture
the
mood
more
than
the
look
of
the
players.
So
Bankman-Fried
must
have
gotten
a
little
tired
of
looking
like
this
in
all
the
trial
coverage:
And
overcorrected
with
his
new
sketch
as
a
Phoenix
Wright
NPC.
Normally
Rosenberg’s
work
captures
the
spirit
of
the
proceedings,
but
this
time
it
may
be
the
artistic
conversation
she
prompted
that
gets
to
the
heart
of
it.
Cultivating
an
image
divorced
from
reality?
Throwing
money
at
a
problem
to
disguise
glaring
faults?
Does
it
get
any
more
heavy-handed
than
this?
Joe
Patrice is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
Feel
free
to email
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments.
Follow
him
on Twitter if
you’re
interested
in
law,
politics,
and
a
healthy
dose
of
college
sports
news.
Joe
also
serves
as
a
Managing
Director
at
RPN
Executive
Search.