Rain or shine, a group says it will keep calling for the release of a man supposedly in a confine: Cloud Gate in Millennium Park.
While standing in the rain at the silver blob, also known as The Bean, about 15 members of the so-called Man in Bean Coalition once again chanted Monday for his release.
“Hey hey, ho ho, Anish Kapoor let him go,” the group chanted while dressed in black clothes.
A City Council member has called the group’s claim nonsense, and individual members have refused to identify themselves or say who is behind their actions.
On the first day of Lollapalooza late last month, the coalition called for the release of the man in front of The Bean as hundreds of thousands of festivalgoers passed by. The group claims Kapoor, the British sculptor who crafted the artwork, “stole a baby and put that baby inside of The Bean” in 2004.
The group also claims the man utters no sound but can be seen when the sun hits the sculpture’s silver skin in just the right way.
The rally went viral on social media, with videos online garnering hundreds of thousands of likes and views.
Denmark resident Marius Soerensen said he traveled straight from the airport to Cloud Gate Monday to see the famous structure. He stumbled upon the protest during his first day in Chicago and said he initially thought the rally was something “more sinister.”
“I guess it’s for a good cause,” Soerensen, 23, joked. “I feel like it’s good humor.”
A coalition member said the group has learned that an “overwhelming” number of calls were fielded by 42nd Ward Ald. Brendan Reilly’s office since it urged supporters to call his office. The Bean is in Reilly’s ward.
Reilly, who has criticized the group in the past, declined to comment Monday.
“We have come to the realization that Brendan Reilly is no use to us anymore in this cause, and that it is up to us as a collective to free the man in the Bean,” said a coalition member, who refused to provide his name, like other coalition members. “Brendan Reilly has been bought by big Bean media.”
Alex Rascino, 18, marched over to the group as it chanted, asking a member of the coalition what they thought of opposing “protests” that state there is no man inside The Bean.
The coalition member said the opposition has no basis and that there is a man inside The Bean. Rascino said he has seen videos of the protest from last month and wasn’t expecting to see the group demonstrating Monday.
“It’s amazing,” Rascino, of Sacramento, California, said. “I can’t tell if they’re serious or not; I think it’s just for fun. I just feel absolute pride in humanity.”
Visitors look over as the Man in Bean Coalition rally at the “Cloud Gate” sculpture by Anish Kapoor in Millennium Park, Monday, Aug. 18, 2025. The Man in Bean Coalition is a satire group that claims Kapoor, the British sculptor, “stole a baby and put that baby inside of The Bean” when he created the artwork two decades ago.
Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
New York native Paul McManus recorded the demonstration on his phone. He said his son had seen videos of the protest from last month, and he wanted to send him a video of the group.
“I think it’s kind of funny,” McManus, 68, said.
And as for the next time they’ll show up and show out for the “man,” a member of the coalition said they’re “in talks.”
“Big Bean media has called us performance artists,” one of the coalition members said. “Big Bean media has called us a hoax. We are none of those things. We believe in a single cause, and that is to get the man out of The Bean.”