MLE Commish: Joey Chestnut Not Banned from Hot Dog Contest, ‘America Needs That Hero’

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Major League Eating commissioner George Shea shed some additional light on the situation that will keep 16-time champion Joey Chestnut out of the 2024 Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest.

During an appearance Tuesday on 560 WQAM’s Hoch and Crowder (h/t Audacy’s Alejandro Solana), Shea explained why Chestnut is currently ineligible to compete in an event that has become a Fourth of July tradition:

“It’s a catastrophe. We did not want this. What happened is, his reps came to us and said we have signed with a plant-based meat company that does hot dogs and that’s that. …

“He didn’t come to us and say we have this other offer and let’s talk. It was, ‘This offer is signed,’ so it made it very difficult to negotiate it.”

Shea noted that while the conflict of interests between Nathan’s and the Chestnut-represented Impossible Foods is currently a huge barrier, he would still love to figure out a way for Chestnut to be part of the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest, saying: “Everybody wants him there. He is not banned. We would love to have him there this year, next year. Anytime. But it is a conflict to have him be the Nathan’s champ while he’s representing a rival hot dog brand.”

Shea continued: “[I] would work it out tomorrow. I would work it out on July 3. I would work it out on July 3 of next year. Joey is always welcome at the Fourth of July. He is, in my opinion, the Fourth of July. He is freedom-made man. America needs that hero.”

The 40-year-old Chestnut took to X on Tuesday to express his displeasure with the decision made by MLE and Nathan’s regarding his status for the Hot Dog Eating Contest, writing that he was “gutted” to be “banned” from the competition:

Joey Chestnut @joeyjaws

(1/3)I was gutted to learn from the media that after 19 years Im banned from the Nathan’s July 4th Hot Dog Eating Contest. I love competing in that event, I love celebrating America with my fans all over this great country on the 4th and I have been training to defend my title.

Joey Chestnut @joeyjaws

(3/3) Sadly, this is the decision Nathan’s and Major League Eating are making, and it will deprive the great fans of the holiday’s usual joy and entertainment. To my fans, I love you and appreciate you. Rest assured that you’ll see me eat again soon!! STAY HUNGRY!

Chestnut claimed that he does not have a contract with MLE or Nathan’s and that they are trying to “change the rules” from past years by keeping him out.

The competitive eating legend from San Jose, California, won the Mustard Belt as Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest champion for the first time in 2007, beating Takeru Kobayashi.

Kobayashi won the event six times, but due to a contractual dispute in 2010, he stopped competing in the contest.

Aside from 2015, when he finished second, Chestnut has won the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest every year since 2007. He owns the 10 best performances in the event’s history, including a world-record 76 hot dogs and buns consumed in 2021.

Last year, Chestnut’s 62 hot dogs eaten beat second-place finisher Geoffrey Esper by 13.

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