Joey Chestnut: Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest changed terms of agreement, leaked information leading to ban

The annual Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest on Independence Day is one of the summer’s more entertaining traditions. However, this year it will be without the legendary Joey Chestnut after he was banned for promoting Impossible Foods.

Now, Chestnut has shared his side of how it got to the point that he wouldn’t be competing, including arguing that the terms of his agreements were changed and that information was leaked.

“Everything with Impossible was perfectly fine by all my previous agreements,” Joey Chestnut said. “They changed terms and conditions [around] exclusivity. And it’s not the first time they’ve changed some things, but it’s the first time they’ve really changed things after the fact, and I had to say, ’Hey, it’s too late, I’ve already started working with this brand.’ This was never an issue in the past.”

It was at this point that Joey Chestnut says information was leaked about him, including untrue information.

“And they tried to dance around it — they changed a lot of terms, and then they escalated things to a degree they didn’t imagine when they started leaking information and telling people I was banned and that I turned vegan, which clearly isn’t the case,” Chestnut said.

George and Richard Shea are the brothers who run Major League Eating. Joey Chestnut says that they both have messaged him, apologizing for the dispute getting ugly.

Notably, Chestnut also added that he’s not opposed to competing in the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest in the future, even if there is tension right now.

“I don’t think the Shea brothers are bad people,” Chestnut said. “I’m not burning any bridges. And I love it — I love the Fourth of July and that contest. I’m always willing to try. I don’t hold grudges. So nothing is out of the question.”

Since the ban from the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest, Joey Chestnut entered an alternative hot dog eating contest. That’s the “Pop Goes the Fort” contest at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas. There, he will compete in a five-minute contest against soldiers on the Fourth of July. An estimated 15,000 people are expected to attend.

It was also reported in June that Joey Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi will compete in a hot dog eating contest for Netflix. That’s scheduled for September and will be the first time the two legendary eaters will compete head-to-head since the 2009 Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest. At that point, Chestnut won his third straight after he had previously Kobayashi’s six straight wins.