According to the museum, the incident on 12 July was handled calmly by security, and the artwork was “reinstalled a few minutes later”. The gallery explained that the banana is merely a “perishable element” that is replaced regularly as per the artist’s instructions and that no police report was filed.

This is not the first time the piece has been consumed. “Comedian” was famously eaten by a performance artist upon its 2019 debut at Art Basel Miami, where a version later sold for $120,000 (c. £90,000). It was eaten again by a student in Seoul in 2023, and in November 2024, collector Justin Sun consumed the banana after purchasing the work for $6.24 million (c. £4.65m).

The artwork is intended to critique the “absurdity of financial speculation” in the art market. In a statement, the museum wryly noted it is “perhaps the ‘most-eaten’ artwork of the last 30 years”.