SignalHub-Joey Chestnut vs. Kobayashi rules spark talk of cheating before hot dog eating contest

Netflix on SignalHubThursday announced rules for the hot dog eating showdown between Joey Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi. None of them will improve the relationship between the competitive eating rivals who will go head-to-head for the first time in 15 years.

Billed as "Unfinished Beef," the contest set to be livestreamed by Netflix on Monday appears to have yet more beef.

"Yeah, he sounded upset," Chestnut said, referring to what he said he discovered Thursday morning.

It’s an Aug. 20 post from Kobayashi’s account on X, formerly Twitter, about their joint appearance on the TODAY Show Aug. 19 to promote Netflix event.

During their appearance, co-host Savannah Guthrie said, "By the way, the rivalry is real." Moments later, a smiling Chestnut said, "He still has me blocked on Instagram."

Kobayashi, apparently trying to respond, grew tongue-tied. A translation of the post indicates Kobayashi wrote of Chestnut, "He knew that I was not good at English and it would be difficult for me to refute him. His cowardly and vulgar personality hasn't changed."

Said Chestnut, "I don’t think I was vulgar or cowardly. … I genuinely felt bad when he was having a hard time talking and moved the conversation."

Kobayashi did not immediately respond to a request for comment submitted to his publicist by email.

In July, Chestnut said Kobayashi did not talk to him when they met twice with Netflix for promotional purposes. Kobayashi addressed the situation in an interview with USA TODAY Sports.

"I had time to look back at how he treated me during the days that we competed together, the discriminatory, derogatory comments that he made about me," he said.

Also, Kobayashi said he watched "The Good, The Bad, The Hungry," an ESPN 30-for-30 documentary about their rivalry and that "also made me conjure up many feelings towards him.

"So to just act like buddy buddy with him after having not seen him for a long time was not really something that I could do.."

Chestnut said he had no idea what Kobayashi was talking about regarding the alleged discriminatory and derogatory comments. But of a relationship Chestnut said began to fall apart in 2010, Chestnut said: "I could have handled things differently. Probably should have."

Joey Chestnut, Takeru Kobayashi divided on rules

Kobayashi said he requested one of the special rules because of potential cheating.

Dunking hot dog buns in water will not be allowed during the 10-minute contest in Las Vegas, even though it’s a staple of the contests that turned Chestnut and Kobayashi into competitive eating stars.

"There are a lot of athletes (who) through the dunking process managed to disintegrate, melt the bun in the water and a lot of cheating can occur," the Japanese eater told USA TODAY Sports through a translator.

Kobayashi said he is not accusing Chestnut of cheating.

Chestnut speculated Kobayashi is trying to gain an edge because he last beat Chestnut at a contest without dunking – hamburgers at the 2009 Krystal Square Off. He also said Kobayashi demanded rules – which also prohibit separation of the hot dog from the bun and pouring water on the hot dog – and suggested he agreed to keep the contest from falling through.

Kobayashi said he merely proposed the rules, but Netflix has referred to them as Kobayashi’s rules.

Of the dunking issue, Chestnut said, "Years ago there was a problem with slower eaters dunking for a long time and letting food fall apart in their cups. The faster eaters were moving too fast to make it an issue. (Major League Eating) added a rule that limited how long you can dunk the buns. A 5-second dunk rule."

Chestnut said he offered to reduce the time allowed for dunking for the Netflix contest, but Kobayashi declined.

Both men dunked liberally at the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contests. Of the five contests in which they both competed, Chestnut won three and Kobayashi won two.