Sweat-free. Unblemished. Calm and carefree. Actor Timothée Chalamet looked the model e-bike rider as he arrived to the premier of his film, A Complete Unknown not in a limo, but a rental Lime bike.
He rode the e-bike directly onto the red carpet, where he parked it rather boldly in front of the film's title board. The publicly accessible e-bike rental scheme offers members of the public access to e-bikes to ride around London for a reasonable price. The company recently called for more parking in a response to the new TfL e-bike enforcement policy. Perhaps the red carpet is a less than ideal parking space for an e-bike, but it certainly stands out against the colour schemes.
Will the Lime carpet be the next big movie premiere thing?
So it Chalamet just like us? Or is he merely masquerading as an e-bike enthusiast? Well, if he wants to use the service again, he may have to learn the rules around parking, as he revealed on a French talk show, Quotidien, that he received a fine of £65 for parking it in a no parking zone. Looks like the red carpet might be off-limits for now, then.
According to Chalamet, he chose to use the e-bike instead of a limo because there was a traffic jam, and didn't want to be late to the premiere. Us cyclists are feeling pretty smug right about now, aren't we?
But the story continues. Chalamet's claims of a £65 fine have been disputed by the Independent and the Guardian, with the latter pointing out that Lime's penalty fees run between £2 and £20, and there are no penalties for first offences.
On the topic, Chalamet said in his interview, that “I actually wasn’t allowed to park there, and I got a £65 fine. And actually it’s horrible because it was an advert for them.”
The Guardian went as far as to contact Lambeth council, which is where the venue for the premiere falls under jurisdiction of. Representatives confirmed "that they did not issue any such fine."
Could it be lost in translation, or a little porky pie? And should we even care? The fact is, that a multi-millionaire film star took a far more eco-friendly mode of transport to a film premiere, and then advertised it by parking it on the red carpet. If it was a piece of advertising by Lime, then we salute them, because it's being talked about across several news outlets - and countries.
And if not, then kudos to Mr Chalamet, for taking the initiative to prove that not only can movie stars ride e-bikes like the rest of us, but that you can do so in a dashing suit and still show up to an event looking pretty good. Now, if we could just get Taylor Swift to ride out onto the stage at one of her concerts, we might have cornered a billion more bike fans.
