This embedded content is not available in your region.
X/@braereputation | X/@BL4CKNOlR
A Timothée Chalamet doppelganger was removed from a lookalike competition by police.
Footage circulated online appeared to show the Chalamet double being led away in handcuffs, surrounded by police officers.
Images shared on social media also showed what looked like the same man being man-handled into a police car. It is not clear if he was placed under arrest.
The New York Police Department was contacted for comment.
The competition was further sent into a frenzy when Chalamet himself made a surprise appearance at the lookalike contest in his honour, in New York.
The American-French actor arrived at the event in Manhattan flanked by bodyguards and posed for photos with his high cheek-boned, curly haired doppelgängers, prompting hysteria from the hordes of 20-something fans that had assembled.
Minutes after the competition began, and prior to the actor making his entrance, police ordered the crowd to disperse from Washington Square Park, in Manhattan.
The competition was quickly relocated elsewhere.
Police also handed the organisers a $500 fine for an “unpermitted costume contest,” according to the Associated Press.
At least one contestant was taken away in handcuffs.
The young impersonator was escorted by NYPD officers with his hands handcuffed behind his back while a large crowd booed and jeered at the police, footage of the incident shared on social media shows.
Large crowds of Chalamet doppelgangers had descended on the square, some dressed as Willy Wonka or Paul Atreides, the actor’s characters in his recent films Wonka and Dune.
The event, advertised on flyers around New York, was one of several lookalike competitions hosted by YouTube personality Anthony Po.
As word spread on social media, thousands of people RSVP’d to the event, which promised $50 to the winner.
“It started off as a silly joke and now it’s turned pandemonium,” said Paige Nguyen, a producer for the YouTube creator.
Most of the Chalamet impersonators and spectators relocated to a new park.
On a makeshift stage, the lookalikes were asked about their romantic plans with the actor’s rumoured partner, Kylie Jenner.
They were also asked to demonstrate French proficiency and what they would do to make the world a better place.
Eventually, the audience picked a winner: Miles Mitchell, a Staten Island resident and college senior.
Dressed in a purple Willy Wonka outfit, he tossed candy from a briefcase to throngs of young admirers.
“I’m excited and I’m also overwhelmed,” he said. “There were so many good lookalikes. It was really a toss-up.”
