The longtime American hot dog devourer is not going to take part in this 12 months’s Independence Day contest resulting from a contract dispute, organizers said Tuesday.
Joey “Jaws” Chestnut, 40, has been competing since 2005 and has not lost since 2015At Nathan’s famous hot dog eating contest on July 4th last 12 months, he ate 62 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes.
But Eating within the Major League Event organizer George Shea said Chestnut was withdrawing from the competition resulting from a contract dispute.
“We love him, the fans love him,” Shea said, adding, “He made the decision.”
Shea said Chestnut had a cope with a rival brand – a red line for the Nathan’s-sponsored event – but didn’t elaborate. He said the dispute was over exclusivity, not money.
“It could be like Michael Jordan and said to Nike, ‘I’m going to represent Adidas too,'” Shea said.
In a press release to NBC NewsMLE said it was “devastated to learn that Joey Chestnut has chosen to represent a competing brand that sells plant-based hot dogs rather than participate in the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest on July 4, 2024.”
The statement said: “MLE and Nathan’s have made great efforts to accommodate Joey and his management team over the past few months. They agreed to the looks fee and allowed Joey to take part in a competitive, unbranded hot dog eating contest on Labor Day.
Chestnut didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment made through his website.
Chestnuts have long dominated the competition, and those that have vied for second place prior to now can have recent hopes of taking first place this 12 months, including international competitors on the eating tour.
Last 12 months’s runner-up was Geoffrey Esper of Oxford, Massachusetts, who consumed 49 hot dogs. Third place went to Australian James Webb with 47. That was removed from Chestnut’s best performance: his record was 76 Nathan’s Famous hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes in 2021.
In the 12 months 2010 Dining Master Takeru KobayashiChestnut’s rival on the time, Kobayashi also stopped participating within the annual bun fight resulting from a contract dispute with Major League Eating. Kobayashi stormed the competition wearing a t-shirt that read “Free Kobi” and was arrested. He was sentenced to six months probation. Kobayashi announced his retirement from the game last month.
