An unlicensed Timothée Chalamet lookalike contest in midtown Manhattan on Sunday, where the pre-event guest list exploded to more than 2,000 RSVPs, saw four arrests after police had to remove the sea of gathered fans who are were then surprised by the heartthrob actor as he mingled among his doppelganger fans.
The event was conceived three weeks ago, according to a tweet from its creator. YouTuber Anthony Po, who apparently made no attempt to contact city officials or the NYC Parks Department to ask for permission to host a large-scale event there. The contest had been advertised on flyers around the city and is one of many similar events hosted by Po, such as the Cheeseball Man stunt that took place in Union Square and then went viral in April (“I ate a jar of cheese balls in front of 3,000 people and became like a New York City superhero”).
Po has around 1.8 million followers after parting ways with the team behind YouTube sensation MrBeast, whose large-scale stunts are designed to go viral and tend to do so every time. Po left that group of pranksters after about a year to make it on his own, especially with these kinds of peculiar public events. His simple social media bio states, “I put in bits and pieces, make art, and host events.”
Po wore an eye-catching tuxedo and hat to host the event this weekend, which offered a $50 prize to the winner of the contest (though all finalists were ultimately presented with the cash prize). In front of the audience, the contestants were interviewed about their plans with Kylie Jenner (Chalamet's alleged girlfriend) and their knowledge of French.
However, there were only minutes left before the start of the competition in Washington Square Park – and all this before Chalamet arrived at the event – when police ordered the group to disperse from the area, CBS News reported. In a conversation with The Hollywood journalist on the phone Monday, Po said he was hit with a $500 fine for an “unpermitted costume contest.”
“It's a shame, though, because… if me and my team don't show up, the event still happens, right?” Po said into the phone. “People don't even know that there was actually a person behind this, right? It was just a meeting and we told law enforcement, “Listen, we're willing to cooperate.” You have to let us handle this.' And I think because they were like that… they're law enforcement, right? That's their job, to be terrible at communicating and shut people down.”
Four people were taken into custody and issued summonses during the event, CBS reported. Po indicated to THR that he was only aware of one arrest resulting from an attendee who remained stationary while an NYPD officer attempted to remove him from the park.
“It's basically right [doing] what do you do if you're pressured by a policeman, and then obviously they didn't accept it… he definitely got fines and things in court,” Po said.
Paige Nguyen, producer of the YouTube creator, said this THR who has worked with Po since he attended Rutgers University and considers him a mentor.
“It all started as a stupid joke and now it's become pandemonium,” Nguyen previously told The Associated Press of Sunday's event.
The group moved to nearby Mercer Park, and the crowd eventually crowned Miles Mitchell, a senior at the Staten Island college, the winner.
“I'm excited and I'm also overwhelmed,” he said. “There were so many good lookalikes. It really was a disaster.