Joey Chestnut was interviewed by the Stacking Pennies podcast when he was in Charlotte for the NASCAR races Memorial Day weekend. They do not ask him about his recent arrest for battery and probation.
Flashback: Nathan’s City Hall weigh-ins
Tonight’s weigh in at the Lincoln Memorial for Sunday’s UFC card at the White House is not the first time a weigh-in for a competition has been held at a major public building. Weigh ins for Nathan’s Famous hot dog eating contest were held at NYC City Hall until 2014 and the Brooklyn Borough Hall from 2015-17. The mayor often attended the weigh-in; Michael Bloomberg attended the weigh-in 11 of the 12 years he was in office and Rudy Guiliani was present at least three years. The hot dog documentary “Footlong” has footage (starts at 6:23) of the 1998 weigh-in attended by Rudy Guiliani and Curtis Sliwa, who ran for mayor in 2021 and 2025.
Max Stanford plans to compete in tomorrow's Nathan's Famous qualifier at Lake Compounce in Bristol, CT. He plans to livestream the competition.
Nathan’s Famous / Smithfield Foods closing postponed
The takeover of Nathan’s Famous by its meatpacker and distributor, Chinese-owned Smithfield Foods, was announced in January and expected to be completed in the first half of 2026. Various issues have postponed the closing to the second half of the year.
Completion of the transaction remains contingent upon meeting several conditions specified in the Merger Agreement. These include securing approval from the holders of a majority of Nathan’s outstanding stock, obtaining clearance from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), and fulfilling other closing requirements. However, given the impact of the partial government shutdown on statutory deadlines for CFIUS’s review process, our anticipated closing timeline has shifted, and we now expect the transaction to close in the second half of 2026.
Today marks the two year anniversary of Netflix' announcement of "Chestnut vs. Kobyashi: Unfinished Beef". The day before, Joey was expelled from Major League Eating for his Impossible Foods deal. Netflix has announced no plans to broadcast another eating competition.
The Corner Spot in Ocean Beach, NY will hold a hot dog eating contest on July 4 awarding $500 to the winner.
Stewart's in Tuckerton, NJ will hold a hot dog eating contest on July 4 awarding $1000/$350/$150 to the top three finishers.
Dexerto has a post about Burger King Japan's offer enabling customers to eat as many one pound burgers as they can finish over a 45 minute session for approximately $30. The top eaters will compete in a finals contest in Tokyo.
Jeff's Donuts will hold a donut hole eating contest in Louisville on July 4 awarding $1,000 to the winner.
Dat Dog in New Orleans will hold a hot dog eating contest on July 4 awarding $500 to the winner.
Raina Huang and Naader Reda are attempting the Big Texan 72 ounce steak in Barstow, CA tonight. Raina hopes to finish it in 20 minutes. update Raina finished in 14:13 to set the women's record excluding Molly Schuyler. updare Daily Press has an article. Naader's time was 39 minutes.
La Fiorentina in Springfield, MA will hold a cannoli eating contest on July 11 awarding $1,000 to the winner.
Season 2 of "Everything on the Menu with Braun Strowman" will debut tonight on the USA Network at 11pm Eastern. WWE Hall of Famer Mark Henry will accompany Braun in the episode. update June 10 The full episode can be viewed on youtube.
2026 Salvation Army donuts
Full results are on Instagram
| 1st | 63 | James Webb | |
| 2nd | 56 | Max Stanford | |
| 3rd | 50 | Cameron Meade | |
| 4th | 43 | Radim Dvoracek | |
| 5th | 35 | Derek Hendrickson | |
| 6th | 31 | Jerome Burns | |
| 7th | 21 | Steven Farlow | |
| 8th | 16.5 | Crazy Legs Conti | |
| 9th | 16 | George Chiger | |
| 10th | 12 | Cherish “Five Pounds” Brown | |
| 10th | 12 | Larell Marie “The Real Deal” Mele | |
| 12th | 7 | Rene Rovtar |
WUSA9 is doing a livestream of today’s Salvation Army National Donut Day Donut Eating Championship in Washington, DC. James Webb is also doing a livestream.
Nathan’s men’s contest on ESPN2, women’s on streaming
The July 4 schedule for ESPN is now available. The main channel will observe America250 by broadcasting British tennis while the men’s Nathan’s Famous hot dog eating contest is relegated to ESPN2 and the women’s division is streaming-only. The men’s contest will be rerun on ESPN2 at 4pm Eastern and the documentary “The Good, the Bat, The Hungry” will be shown at 5pm.
The schedule (Kingsford stage) for the Giant BBQ Battle in Washington, DC claims that Miki Sudo will be competing in a Nathan's Famous hot dog eating contest on June 27. Nathan's qualifiers have been held at the event from 2022 to 2025, but no competition is listed on the MLE schedule.
Cold Beers and Cheeseburgers will hold a slider eating contest at Scottsdale, AZ 4th of July awarding $500 and $250 American Express gift cards to the top two finishers. Qualifiers will be held on June 20 at 17 Phoenix area locations.
Port Angeles, WA will hold a hot dog eating contest on July 4 awarding $800/$300/$100 to the top three. An apple pie eating contest will pay out $250/$150/$100.
The episosde of "Beavis and Butthead" in which the duo competes in a bratwurst eating contest has been uploaded to youtube. The segment begins at 5:33 and is part of a two hour block of recorded programming that includes commercials.
Dan Kennedy won the first prize of $4,000 in today's Zoi's Pizza eating contest in Seymour, CT. Molly Schuyler and Joe Menchetti also competed.
2026 Mountain Mile wings
Full results are on Instagram
| 1st | 256 | James Webb | |
| 2nd | 213 | Nick Wehry | |
| 3rd | 193 | Geoffrey Esper | |
| 4th | 179 | Gideon Oji | |
| 5th | 160 | Miki Sudo | |
| 6th | 154 | Cameron Meade | |
| 7th | 149 | Radim Dvoracek | |
| 8th | 134 | Josh “The Goat” Krady | |
| 9th | 122 | Tanner Gray | |
| 10th | 81 | Matthew Raible | |
| 11th | 64 | Crazy Legs Conti | |
| 12th | 31 | Alex “Moose” Perez |
James Webb has started a livestream of the Kickoff to Summer at Mountain Mile wing eating contest at Pigeon Forge, TN.
On July 4, Stadium Swim in Las Vegas will hold "Weenies & Bikinis", a female-only hot dog eating contest awarding $5000.
Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas is expected to compete in a hot dog eating contest at Joint Base Andrews Exchange in St. Andrews, MD on June 13. This will be her first public appearance since a mysterious disqualification in the 2018 Nathan's Famous hot dog eating contest concluded her Major League Eating career. Sonya Thomas worked at the Burger King on Joint Base Andrews.
Registration is open for the Strawberry Shortcake Eating Contest to be held at the Mattituck, NY Strawberry Festival on June 20.
Master Pho in Atlanta, GA will hold a pho eating contest on May 31 awarding free pho for one year to the winner and an iPhone 17 to the runner up. 3rd and 4th places will receive $500 and $200 gift cards.
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