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Both his parents were hospitalised with the Covid-19 virus but that hasn’t stopped Chet Hanks from dissing the vaccine – and on a very public platform.
Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson were among the first celebrities to be hit by Covid-19 back in March 2020. Despite that, their 31-year-old rapper son went on a foul-mouthed anti-vaccine rant on Instagram earlier this week which made headlines around the world.
Chet started off the video soberly endorsing the vaccine and falsely claiming to have had Covid. He also said he’d been vaccinated and encouraged his more than 500 000 Instagram followers to do the same. So far so good – but then out of the blue he yells “Psych” and launches into a tempestuous tirade.
“If it ain’t broke don’t fix it. I ain’t never had Covid. You ain’t stickin’ me with that motherf**king needle,” he railed. “It’s the motherf**king flu. Get over it, okay? If you’re sick, stay inside. “Why we working around y’all? If you’re in danger, stay your ass inside. I’m tired of wearing a motherf**king mask.”
Tom and Rita were filming in Australia when they tested positive early last year. Both had to be hospitalised, with Rita (64) having more severe symptoms.
READ MORE| Tom Hanks opens up about surviving coronavirus: 'I had crippling bodyaches'
Tom (65) later spoke to Associated Press about mask-wearing.
“If you can't wear a mask and wash your hands and social distance, I've got no respect for you, man. I don’t buy your argument.”
People on social media have laid into Chet for his views with many questioning whether Chet really is related to Tom and Rita. Trevor Noah shared a clip of Forrest Gump, the character Tom is most famous for portraying, referring to Chet as “not a smart man”.
Forrest Gump weighs in on Chet Hanks pic.twitter.com/IaPSYFxMEg
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) August 11, 2021
“One of the reasons my wife and I don’t want children is because we’d be afraid that despite our best efforts, we’d raise an insufferable pr**k like Chet Hanks,” someone tweeted.
READ MORE| Just call him the blacksheep: how Tom Hanks' son Chet has ruffled feathers again
“If people as nice as Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson can end up with this guy, it’s absolutely possible.” “The biggest campaign for vaccinations should be, ‘Do you really want to be like Chet Hanks?’ Millions will get that,” another tweeted.
“Chet Hanks is the price we have to pay for Tom Hanks being such an amazing human,” another added.
Despite the backlash, Chet later posted another video making it clear he hadn’t changed his views on the vaccine.
“Just like you have the right to be mad at me ’cause I said I’m not going to get the vaccine, I have the right to not get that sh*t. I wanted to, but my immune system said it’s good. It doesn’t want to be tampered with. It said it’s good, okay?” He adds, “There’s more evidence for UFOs being real than the vaccine being healthy for you.”
He then invites aliens to come and collect him so that he can “get the f**k out of here”.
This is not the first time Chet has been in hot water. Back in 2015 he claimed he had the right to use the n-word in a caption because he identifies with black culture. And in January 2020 he was accused of appropriating Jamaican culture after trying to speak in a Jamaican accent at the Golden Globes.
SOURCES: THEWRAP.COM, BBC.COM, DAILYMAIL.CO.UK, CNN.COM
