Chet Hanks won’t apologize for what activists are calling “cultural appropriation,” instead telling his critics to “kick rocks.”
Chet, son of actors Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, has been accused of so-called appropriating black culture for using a Jamaican accent. His song and music video for “White Boy Summer” has also been criticized in a similar racial vein by activists.
“Nah. I don’t feel like I’ve truly done anything offensive, so I don’t,” Chet recently told host Ziwe Fumudoh, when asked if he’d like to “apologize to any marginalized communities,” particularly the “Patois community.”
The “Ziwe” host asked if the actor felt this way because he viewed his alleged “appropriation” as merely “a celebration of culture” and believes “social justice warriors” complaining about him can “go kick rocks.”
Chet nodded in the affirmative.
“Yeah. I 100% agree,” the 31-year-old responded. “Social justice warriors can kick rocks.”
The video went viral, garnering 2.8 million views in a matter of hours.
WATCH:
i asked chet hanks if he wanted to apologize to any marginalized communities pic.twitter.com/EEzD9VrtNs
— ziwe (@ziwe) May 6, 2022
In 2021, Chet explained what the phenomenon of “white boy summer” is really about — and that’s apparently “interracial relations.”
“White boy summer is me,” Chet told YouTuber Andrew Callaghan.
“White boy summer is fun, inclusive; white boy summer is love,” he continued. “It’s about the white boys that love black queens — it’s the white boys that are tuned into the black girl magic. That’s really what white boy summer is all about: just shining a light on interracial relations.”
Chet added that he’s preferred black women since “as long as I can remember.”
The rapper recently made headlines when he spoke out about “toxic” Hollywood culture in a video titled, “The Truth About Growing Up As A Hanks.”
“While Chet said he’s ‘blessed’ to be part of a family he loves, the experience of growing up with very famous parents was a ‘double-edged sword,'” The Daily Wire reported.
“There’s a lot of advantages but sometimes it can be pretty weird,” he said in the video, which was published in February. “I got to do a lot of cool s*** that a lot of people don’t get the opportunity to do. I got to travel the world, stay in nice hotels, fly on private planes and I’m very blessed for that. I wouldn’t change my situation.”
“My experience was even more complicated because on top of fame already being toxic, I wasn’t even famous,” Chet continued. “I was just the son of somebody famous so I hadn’t even done anything to deserve any sort of recognition and that created a lot of contempt.”
“People would make up their minds about me before they even got the chance to know me and it was extremely hard to break down their walls,” the “Empire” alum added.
Related: Tom Hanks’ Son Chet Speaks Candidly About ‘Toxic’ Upbringing In Hollywood