Sometimes the internet comes together to do something truly bizarre, like ‘freeing’ a man from Chicago’s famous Bean sculpture.
On Sunday, hundreds of people gathered in Millennium Park to engage in the ‘push the bean’ event, which had gained traction online.
The group had one goal: to move the Bean statue (officially known as Cloud Gate) seven inches to the left.
A rumour had circulated that a man was trapped underneath the Anish Kapoor sculpture and moving it would unveil a trap door, so he could be freed.
Cloud Gate was constructed between 2004 and 2006 and is made from 168 stainless steel plates, weighing 110 short tons.
The origin of this particular internet conspiracy is unclear but last year it gained enough interest to spark a protest in front of the statue during Lollapalooza.
Protestors claimed the ‘man in the bean’ was stolen as a baby and placed inside the statue when it was built and ‘big bean’ was lying to the public.
It has been dismissed as a ‘hoax’ and satire, or a strange piece of performance art, with an unknown motive.
A YouTube mockumentary, titled Man in the Bean, was released in 2025 by filmmakers Nathan Graber-Lipperman and Cris Campos, renewing interest in the conspiracy.
At the time, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker told a reporter he was ‘not authorised to reveal anything about the man in the bean’.
He continued: ‘I’m not suggesting there is a man in the bean or isn’t a man in the bean, but…’
City council member Brendan Reilly was forced to ‘confirm’ nobody was trapped inside after getting inundated with phone calls asking to free him.
‘I am happy to confirm that a man has not been trapped inside Cloud Gate (a.k.a ‘the Bean’) for the past 21 years,’ he wrote in a statement.
He added that he appreciates a ‘lighthearted parody as much as the next guy,’ but the calls were distracting from ‘the real work we do for the 42nd Ward and City of Chicago.’
British artist Stuart Semple even got in on the conspiracy, having previously clashed with Kapoor over Vantablack and the Pinkest Pink.
He told Metro: ‘I’ve always been incredibly passionate about freeing the Man in the Bean. He’s been in there for too long, and it’s only right that he is liberated.
‘I was touched to see how many people from Chicago turned out to support the “happening”.’
Semple added: ‘I remind the world that Anish Kapoor still hasn’t commented on the poor man in there, and when it comes to ownership of the blackest black color, he’s still very much at large.’
This isn’t the first time the artist has poked fun at the Cloud Gate situation. On Facebook last year, he posted a mock-up of an Airbnb page.
Semple wrote: ‘Anish Kapoor is banned from staying in the bean with the man who lives in it! Book your stay at AirBandBean.com.’
Kapoor has not commented on the Man in the Bean conspiracy or responded to the protests or attempts to move his sculpture.
Unsurprisingly, those attending the big bean push on Sunday were unable to move the statue.
Metro has reached out to Kapoor for comment.
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