Security guard and Instagram star fired over viral clips of him breaking wind

EARLIER this year, a US security guard took on the usual fitness models and travel bloggers to become a surprise Instagram sensation.

The man, known as “Paul Flart”, shot to social media fame in late March after uploading a video of himself passing wind at work, with his uniform and badge proudly on display.

That first clip was a tearaway success, and ever since, the 31-year-old has been uploading similar videos of himself farting on the job, amassing a staggering 70,000 followers.

In fact, he became so popular thanks to his clips he now calls himself “The Fart Authority” and has even designed a special logo.

Mr Flart, whose real first name is Doug, has so far refused to reveal his surname — although his adopted moniker is presumably a reference to the film Paul Blart: Mall Cop.

Mr Flart had been working at an unnamed Florida hospital where he recorded all of his videos, which have been viewed thousands of times by fans from across the globe.

But after months of recordings, his unusual claim to fame has finally cost him his day job. Last week, the security firm Mr Flart worked for stood him down for breaking company policy regarding mobile phone use at work as well as recording in uniform on a client’s property.

He recorded his sacking on Instagram Live, and it was then shared on Vimeo.

In the footage, Mr Blart claims he never revealed the name of the hospital or the company logo in his videos — but his argument fell on deaf ears.

However, in a recent interview with Vice, Mr Flart revealed he wasn’t planning on retiring from the spotlight any time soon.

He said fans could support him via donations through his Patreon account, and that he would soon be releasing official merchandise.

He also hinted at plans to take the Paul Flart experience on the road.

He told the publication his videos “transcends all languages”.

“There’s no translation necessary, it’s just funny,” he said.

“I’m always making people laugh, making people smile.”

He said the first video was created during a quiet period at work.

“The lobby has really great acoustics, and naturally, we all fart,” he said.

“One day I ripped a rather nice one and got really good sound from it, so the next time it happened I recorded it and sent it to my group chat.”

His friends were huge fans, and so Mr Flart decided to share the video online — and the rest is history.

He said he wasn’t particularly worried by his recent sacking.

“My thought process is just run with this and see where this goes,” he told Vice.

“We live in a society where this is the big popular thing right now, but next week, unless I’m doing more than keeping it going, it’s going to be nothing.

“We’re going to keep making content. We can do Paul Flart on vacation, you know, throw in like a Hawaiian shirt and a hat of some sort and then just fart around Florida. We’re just going to keep going.”

While some commenters on Mr Flart’s Instagram account have referred to his videos as “gross” and “disgusting”, with one even posting: “I’m sure you’re a hit with the ladies…”, the majority are huge supporters.

He has been variously described by his legion of fans as “the man”, “a legend” and even an “American hero”.