Sophie Hessekiel is a Newsweek writer based in Los Angeles. Her focus is on celebrity news and entertainment. She has also written extensively about culture and relationships for a variety of publications, including Mashable and the Los Angeles Times. Her writing can also be seen in the book Squishmallows: Radiate Positivity and on the Fox drama series The Cleaning Lady. Sophie began contributing to Newsweek in 2024 and is a graduate of Vassar College. You can see more examples of her work and contact her at sophiehessekiel.com.
Sophie Hessekiel
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At 28, Tom Holland is well over the legal age to consume alcohol in the United States. He also is one of the founders of the non-alcoholic beer BERO. But a technicality with this identification almost prevented him from purchasing his own product on Monday, February 17.
The Spider-Man: No Way Home actor took to Instagram as he attempted to find the product in stores. “I haven’t been in the States in a while,” he said in an Instagram Story video. “I’m gonna go visit some Bero on the shelves, out in the wild!”
Tom Holland and Zendaya are seen on October 24, 2024 in New York City. Tom Holland and Zendaya are seen on October 24, 2024 in New York City. XNY/Star Max/GC Images
After searching two Target stores for the non-alcoholic beverage to no avail — “Not the best marketing,” he quipped — he located the product in a third store. But he ran into an unexpected obstacle once he finally found the beer.
“Ok, so, success, I found some, I bought it,” the Uncharted actor told his fans. “But they wouldn’t accept my ID because it’s English.”
Tom Holland says he went to Target to buy BERO, his own non-alcoholic beer, but the staff wouldn’t sell it to him because he couldn’t prove his age.
“They wouldn’t accept my ID, because it’s English, and I couldn’t prove my age.” pic.twitter.com/swTSFlGzFD
— Cosmic Marvel (@cosmic_marvel) February 18, 2025
“I couldn’t prove my age, so a really lovely employee, I guess, scanned their ID,” he continued. According to the Non-Alcoholic Beer Club website, “Non-alcoholic beers are still regulated by the Federal Alcohol Administration Act, even though their alcoholic content is legally below what is considered to be an alcoholic beverage. Different states have different laws around the purchasing of non-alcoholic beer, although Holland is over 21 anyway. Despite the inconvenience, Holland seemed to find the whole experience amusing. “It’s kind of ironic that I wasn’t allowed to buy my own product. But yeah, feeling good. This is really exciting!”
In an October 2024 interview with the official Food and Wine podcast, the actor said that he added his name to the brand because he “felt really passionate about being sober, promoting a healthier lifestyle, making a difference and helping people.” Holland explained that he quit drinking alcohol in 2022 after a “dry January” showed him how much he’d been depending on it. “My first year of sobriety would have been much easier had I had a product like Bero.”
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