After Michael B. Jordan won the Best Actor Academy Award on Sunday, March 15, he headed straight to a fast-food spot to celebrate with a cheeseburger.
The star, still dressed in his black suit from the ceremony, ate with his award sitting on the table and grinned as he signed paper hats for staff, as seen in several viral videos.
While Jordan’s fans used the act to label him “humble” and “grounded” on social media, his critics were not impressed and accused him of being flamboyant.
Highlights
- After winning Best Actor for Sinners, Michael B. Jordan stopped at In-N-Out, sparking criticism that the visit was a PR stunt.
- Hilary Swank, Julia Roberts, Ang Lee, and Jamie Lee Curtis have all celebrated Oscars with burgers in previous years.
- A late-night In-N-Out diner shared a firsthand account of meeting Jordan, describing how he congratulated the star, shared a fist bump, and even stole his fries.
“If he were truly humble, he would have hidden away his Oscar and sat there without bodyguards,” one wrote.
Michael B. Jordan faced backlash for publicly having a burger after his Oscar win
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Jordan won Best Actor for playing twin brothers Smoke and Stack in Ryan Coogler’s 2025 supernatural horror effort Sinners.
The actor triumphed over fellow nominees including Leonardo DiCaprio, Timothée Chalamet, Ethan Hawke, and Wagner Moura to take home the coveted prize.
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As the main Oscars event concluded, Jordan headed to In-N-Out on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood to get his treat.
Detractors were quick to sound off against the moment on X, with one writing, “Stop falling for this forced PR! I was literally at that diner, and the camera crew spent 30 minutes setting up the lighting before he even walked in. He didn’t even finish the food. Just took the pic and left in a limo.”
“You spelled ‘wearing low-income wage earners like an accessory for a viral moment’ wrong,” noted a second, while a third added, “He’s doing it for attention and nothing more.”
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“He probably wouldn’t have done this if the cameras weren’t on,” opined a fourth.
One called those viewing Jordan’s burger run as his humility “dumb celebrity worshippers.”
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“Humility is a quiet dinner with a friend. This is virtue signaling,” the next echoed.
Jordan is one of several stars, including Hilary Swank and Julia Roberts, to wrap up the Oscars with a burger over the years
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Similarly to Jordan, Hilary Swank headed to Astro Burger in West Hollywood in 2005 after winning Best Actress in a Leading Role for Million Dollar Baby.
“She walked in with a big smile, raised the statue over her head, and everybody burst into applause,” the restaurant’s owner, Dino Andrianos, told The New York Post at the time.
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In 2013, Ang Lee, newly named Best Director for Life of Pi, was photographed with the statuette in one hand and an In-N-Out burger in the other.
Julia Roberts ate at In-N-Out after presenting an award at the 2019 Oscars, and Jamie Lee Curtis honored the tradition in 2024.
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While many stars venture out to local In-N-Out outlets, the most official way these burgers meet the Oscars is at the Vanity Fair Oscar party, with the fast food chain having a history of serving its high-profile guests late into the night.
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Stars including Brie Larson, Steven Spielberg, and Priyanka Chopra have been pictured enjoying In-N-Out burgers at the event in the past.
A fan who bumped into Michael B. Jordan at In-N-Out detailed his experience online
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A late-night stop at In-N-Out Burger turned into a memory of a lifetime for 40-year-old Tom Whitefield.
He, who was waiting for his order at the fast food outlet in Hollywood, told People the “whole place erupted” into cheers as Jordan walked in on Sunday.
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“I absolutely lost my mind,” the fan added.
Whitefield said he congratulated Jordan and got a response with the actor saying, “Appreciate you, brother.”
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Then, as he got up to leave, “I managed to get a fist bump,” he went on to note.
Whitefield also took to Instagram to share his experience of running into Jordan, describing it as “one of the most insane things” to ever happen to him.
He said he “was starstruck” initially, but then went on to steal the actor’s fries.
"He did not allow fame to take away his roots," a netizen said about Jordan's In-N-Out run
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