Joey Chestnut will be spending the 4th of July on probation after pleading guilty to misdemeanor battery over a bar altercation, Us Weekly can exclusively report.
Chestnut, 43, was accused of striking a man with his open hand in March during a night out at an Indiana bar after the alleged victim recognized and approached the hot dog-eating champion. He pleaded guilty to misdemeanor battery in April and was sentenced to 180 days of probation, per court records observed by Us.
An affidavit obtained by Us revealed the victim told police that he was at Joe’s Grill with a friend on March 21 when Chestnut “slapped him in the face” just before 2 a.m.
The accuser claimed that Chestnut struck him on the left side of his face with an open right hand after the two exchanged a friendly handshake. The food competitor then allegedly made statements along the lines of “look, your buddy’s mad” to the accuser’s friend.
The victim said Chestnut “changed his tone” and stated, “Everything is OK” and that “nothing happened” after the incident.
Later that day, police also spoke with the victim’s friend, who backed up the story. The friend said he continued to speak with Chestnut after the altercation “in an effort to stall the situation” until they were able to leave.
When law enforcement questioned Chestnut about the incident on March 22, the hot dog champion admitted to officers that he was “pretty drunk and didn’t remember” the altercation.
They informed Chestnut that the incident was caught on the bar’s surveillance footage. After observing the tape, the food personality responded that the slap “looked like a joke” but later suggested he “must have taken offense” to something the victim said, the affidavit read.
Police also shared what they witnessed from watching the surveillance tape.
“The accused pulled [the victim] forward, moves closer and uses his right hand to strike [the victim] on the face with an open hand. [The victim] is observed reacting to the strike and moving his head downward and holding it there while the accused stands over him and [his friend],” the officer recalled. “[Chestnut] moves toward [the victim] again and [the victim] moves away from the accused.”
The officer noted, “The touching was nude, insolent or angry because the open-handed strike was nonconsensual to the victim in a manner that caused pain while the accused allegedly used provocative language toward the victim to illicit a reaction.”
While the cop said no injuries were visible while speaking with the victim, he added, “The touching resulted in bodily injury to [victim] in that he had a complaint of pain to the left side of his face.”
On April 20, Chestnut pleaded guilty to battery resulting in bodily injury, a misdemeanor, and was sentenced to 180 days of probation, court records show. His probation is set to end in October, meaning he’ll need to be on his best behavior at Nathan’s annual 4th of July hot dog-eating contest in Coney Island, Brooklyn.
Chestnut has won the famous competition a whopping 17 times. Despite the legal hiccup, he’s taking responsibility for his actions.
“Joey regrets engaging and the interaction being misinterpreted. He strives to always connect in a fun manner with fans. In this case, some inappropriate things were said that Joey reacted to. He’s committed to avoiding being in those situations going forward,” his team tells Us.
Chestnut’s attorney, Mario Massillamany, adds, “My client took full responsibility for this misunderstanding and resolved the matter by pleading guilty to a lesser-included offense of Class B misdemeanor battery, one of the lowest-level misdemeanor offenses under Indiana law.”
Chestnut was famously banned from competing in Nathan’s 2024 hot dog-eating contest after signing an endorsement deal with Impossible Foods, the maker of plant-based meat substitutes.
He returned in 2025 to reclaim his title, winning the Mustard Yellow Belt for the 17th time after eating 70.5 hot dogs.
