Adam Sandler Breaks Silence on Viral IHOP Story

Last week, superstar comedian and actor Adam Sandler unintentionally went viral after deciding he didn’t want to wait half an hour to be seated at IHOP, and taking his kids somewhere else to eat. At some point last week, Sandler swung by his local IHOP restaurant, and like so many parents, took his kids straight out the door after hearing that there was a 30-minute wait for pancakes. That likely would not have been notable, except that the IHOP hostess, after realizing that the would-be diner was one of the most famous comedians in the world, posted a video making fun of herself for not recognizing Sandler, and for essentially turning him away at the door.

The video itself, which appears to be from a security camera at the restaurant, is not especially notable. It’s the kind of interaction you have a dozen or so times a day when you work at a place where there can be a long wait. It really only gets humor from her reaction to the realization that Sandler was the customer in question.

At the time, Sandler’s representatives had no comment on the video, but after a weekend of watching it continue to make impressions on social media, Sandler had to crack a joke on Twitter:

Obviously, walking around in a face mask makes it easier for familiar faces like Sandler’s to be a little less familiar. Comments on the hostess’s original TikTok from other (presumably) New York-area service workers have nothing but the warmest praise for Sandler, suggesting that even without the mask, it would be par for the course (no Happy Gilmore pun intended) if he did not use his celebrity to try and cut the line.

Waiting a half an hour for pancakes is borderline for anybody, but one can understand why someone of Sandler’s profile wouldn’t want to be sitting in the lobby with his kids for that amount of time, since fans approaching him is a very real concern for the SNL and Uncut Gems standout.