The real Jeremy Allen White may not be Jewish, but to fans’ delight, the winner of the Jeremy Allen White lookalike contest in Chicago this Saturday, Nov. 16, is. The man who won first place is Ben Shabad, a mental health therapist from Glenview, Illinois — and he just so happens to be a Jew.
“I’ve never experienced anything like that,” Shabad said. “I was excited, and I was just surprised how many people showed up. I thought it was going to be 20 or 30 people.”
Following a trend of lookalike contests around the country, a crowd of 1,000 people gathered in Humboldt Park to watch more than 50 contestants compete for the title of best Jeremy. White grew a fan following in the city from his roles as Phillip “Lip” Gallagher on “Shameless” and Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto on “The Bear,” both set in Chicago.
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As the actor’s fame grew following his Golden Globe and Emmy wins and a shirtless Calvin Klein ad, speculation swirled online about whether or not White is Jewish. He bears an uncanny resemblance to actor Gene Wilder, who was Jewish, and even named his eldest daughter a rare Jewish name: Ezer. But when Hey Alma looked into the matter earlier this year, we concluded there’s no evidence to show the actor is Jewish. Shabad, on the other hand, definitely is — he told this reporter that he grew up secularly Jewish!
Many men came dressed as Carmy, adorned in white t-shirts and blue aprons with cigarettes in hand. A baby Jeremy and a few female contestants got in on the fun, too. The contestants performed their best impressions of White for the audience, who determined the winner based on applause.
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Attendees flocked to the contest after seeing fliers posted around the city and online. Roommates and co-organizers Taylor Vaske and Kelsey Cassaro were behind the idea and initially got the word out on TikTok.
The event follows a trend of lookalike contests around the country that originated with a Timothée Chalamet lookalike contest in New York City on Oct. 27. Pandemonium ensued online after Chalamet himself — a certified NJB — crashed the event.
The New York event inspired copycat look alike contests for Harry Styles in London, Paul Mescal in Dublin and Dev Patel in San Francisco.
Shabad said he hadn’t seen the other contests, but was told about the Chicago event by friends and his wife (that’s right — he’s taken). He took home $50 cash and a pack of Marlboro cigarettes as his prize, along with a trophy and “Num. 1 J.A.W.” blue ribbon.
“I was confident coming out here, but I had no idea,” Shabad said. “I saw the other guys, and I didn’t know what my chances were, because a lot of them looked like him.”
While the real White didn’t show up to this contest, there was plenty of excitement when the crowd lifted Shabad into the air upon him being crowned winner. He didn’t have social media before the contest, but created an Instagram account to share photos from the event after going viral online. His username, @benshabadfinally, plays on @jeremyallenwhitefinally.
He aptly captioned one of his first posts, “Let’s hear it for the Jeremy’s!!!”
