Jeremy Allen White Lookalike Contest in Chicago Serves Up a Winner

The best doppelgänger took home a "$50 cash prize and some cigarettes"

Jeremy Allen White Lookalike Contest
Jeremy Allen White. Photo:

Hulu/Getty

Carmy, is that you? The Jeremy Allen White lookalike contest in Chicago has served up a winner.

On Saturday, Nov. 16, hundreds of people flocked to Humboldt Park on the city's West Side for a competition in search of someone who looks like the actor, ABC 7 Chicago reported.

The prize offered to the best doppelgänger was "$50 cash and some cigarettes," according to a poster who went viral on X (formerly Twitter).

Photos online show dozens of contestants gathered at the event, dressed as White, 33. They each sported an apron and a white T-shirt, with a cigarette dangling from their lips à la chef Carmy Berzatto in the TV series The Bear, which takes place in Chicago.

Jeremy Allen White attends the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards at Peacock Theater on September 15, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.
Jeremy Allen White attends the Emmy Awards on Sept. 15, 2024.

Amy Sussman/Getty

The Chicago Sun-Times reported that Ben Shabad, a 37-year-old mental health therapist from Glenview, Illinois, won the competition.

"This is the coolest thing I’ve done all week," he said, donning a crown following his victory. In addition to the aforementioned prize, Shabad also received a blue ribbon with a picture of Carmy and a trophy. After his win, other contestants lifted him into the air to celebrate, according to videos shared online.

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"I felt pretty confident," Shabad added, per ABC 7 Chicago. "People have been telling me I look like [White] for a long time. I don't know if it's changed my life, but it's changed my Saturday."

Albany Park roommates Kelsey Cassaro and Taylor Vaske planned the lookalike contest as a joke, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. But once the contest flier went viral, there was no going back.

Jeremy Allen White at the season 3 premiere of FX's "The Bear" held at El Capitan Theatre on June 25, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.
Jeremy Allen White in June 2024.

Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty

This isn't the first time a lookalike contest cropped up in a major city. On Oct. 27, thousands gathered in lower Manhattan for a Timothée Chalamet lookalike contest.

Fans dressed as the actor's film characters — including Willy Wonka in Wonka and Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown — and mimicked Chalamet's effortlessly cool style.

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The competition drew so much attention that Chalamet himself crashed the event and posed with fans. Despite his uncanny likeness, someone else wearing a purple Willy Wonka suit and a top hat took home the $50 prize (made out in a gigantic check) and multi-tier trophy.

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