Why Are People Saying 'Timothée Chalamet Gave Chlamydia To Everyone At NYU'? Fact-Checking The Viral Rumor

There have been a number of anecdotes about Hollywood heartthrob Timothée Chalamet over the years; take, for example, Chalamet's Xbox controlling modding videos he posted on YouTube around 2010.

But there is one rumor that stands above the rest because of just how saucy it is. We're talking, of course, about Chalamet spreading chlamydia all over campus during his short stint at a New York University in 2015 and 2016.

timothee chalamet giving chlamydia to nyu’s whole student body pic.twitter.com/1BwRhFMhSm

— leon (@skyferrori) November 4, 2023

The rumor started in the late 2010s has since spawned countless memes, and people are still not sure of whether there's any truth to it after all. Find out about how the rumor started and whether Timothée Chalamet indeed gave other students chlamydia in our brief explainer.

What Is Timothée Chalamet Chalmydia Rumor?

The rumor about Timothée Chalamet spreading chlamydia, a mild type of sexually transmitted disease, all over New York University, first went viral in 2020. The rumor paints Timothée Chalamet as patient zero in some sort of chlamydia outbreak that happened among New York University students during the time when actor attended the university, meaning Fall 2015 or Spring 2016.

Did A Fanfic Start The Rumor About Timothée Chalamet Giving NYU Chlamydia?

Yes and no. There is a Wattpad fanfic originally posted in January 2019 about Timothée Chalamet giving the author chlamydia that is often credited with starting the rumor. In the fanfic, Chalamet, still a student, is avoiding the protagonist for several days before the latter catches him in a locker room where Chalamet shouts that he has chlamydia while angrily ripping off his locker door.

However, the very first mention of Timothee Chalamet giving someone chlamydia was made on X / Twitter almost a year before the fanfic was published. It didn't gain any traction, though, and is quite possibly coincidental, so its up to debate whether this post can be considered the origin.

Other posts about Chalamet spreading chlamydia come from 2020, meaning that the fanfic predates them.

Is There's Truth To The Rumor?

Apart from digging up private medical records, it's impossible to tell for sure that there was an incident of Timothee Chalamet giving someone more than they bargained for during his student years. The best yet still circumstantial and far-fetched evidence supporting the rumor is an account from Jonathan Schatzberg who was a student at the New York University who wrote about knowing people who know people who know people who got chlamydia from Chalamet and that the future star "[slept around] like a RABBIT." Which, of course, can only confirm anything as much as you can trust third-hand reports.

Another circumstantial evidence is that the Wattpad fanfiction story many credit for starting the gossip does not actually mention New York University, just some arbitrary "school."

But still, until there is anything more substantial than just word of mouth (maybe Chalamet decides to open up on it in his autobiography in fourtyish years?), this meme stays strictly in the gossip category.

For the full history of the Timothée Chalamet NYU chlamydia rumor, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.