Timothée Chalamet Rode E-Bike To Film Premiere And Got Fined For It—And People Are Obsessed

Academy Award nominee Timothée Chalamet caused a stir when arriving at the London premiere of his new Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown on a Lime e-bike.

Lime is one of London's most popular shared electric vehicle companies offering an affordable, carbon-free public transportation alternative.

Chalamet reportedly chose to hop on a Lime to whip through London's busy street traffic to ensure he would arrive at the premiere on time.

You can watch the actor pull up onto the red carpet and end his ride using the Lime app on his smartphone.

People were obsessed.

Although he was punctual and his unconventional red carpet arrival delighted the crowd, things went nowhere fast when Chalamet was allegedly slapped with a roughly 79 USD fine for parking the e-bike in a no-parking zone.

On Wednesday, Chalamet appeared on the French chat show Quotidien and told host Yann Romain Barthès in French:

“There was a traffic jam, and 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 Independent noted professional photographer Aidan Zamiri, who traversed the Westminster Bridge on the way to the premiere alongside the 29-year-old actor, was also hit with a fine for the same parking violation.

However, according to Zamiri's Instagram story, his fine for "incorrect parking" was £2 (2.44 USD).

Chalamet's "hefty" violation prompted the Guardian to cite a possible fine discrepancy as Lime's penalty structure typically hovers in the "£2 to £20" range.

Nevertheless, fans got a kick out of the Dune actor's mode of transportation and the resulting £65 fine.

Some theorized Chalamet gave a shout-out to music artist David Byrne, who arrived in a white suit at the 2024 Met Gala on a bicycle.

Others saw Chalamet's red carpet arrival as an homage to the legendary singer/songwriter he was portraying in A Complete Unknown.

Bob Dylan was known for getting around on a motorcycle, his preferred mode of transport. Dylan bought his first motorcycle, a Harley 45, when he was 16.

He would later purchase the Triumph Tiger 100 (actually a T100 S/R Road Sports) in 1964.

On July 29, 1966, Dylan infamously got into an accident riding the British motorbike near his home in Upstate New York. He claimed to have broken several vertebrae in his neck and suffered facial lacerations.

While there was no official police report filed as to the cause and extent of injuries tied to the mysterious accident, the alleged motorcycle crash forced Dylan to back out of touring, recording, and appearance engagements for eight years.

As the "The Times They Are a-Changin'" singer in A Complete Unknown, Chalamet rides a Bonneville T100, which was chosen to represent "the spirit of freedom and individuality that also defined Dylan’s early years," according to Autoweek.

“The period-specific T100 was sourced for the film, as a faithful representation of the bike Bob Dylan himself rode," the article added.

A Complete Unknown is based on the 2015 book Dylan Goes Electric! by Elijah Wald and tracks the folk singer's early rise to fame to his controversy of using electric instruments at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival.

The biographical musical drama film, directed by James Mangold, also stars Edward Norton, Elle Fanning, Monica Barbaro, Boyd Holbrook, Dan Fogler, Norbert Leo Butz, and Scoot McNairy in supporting roles.