Chet Hanks is not a sympathetic figure. The son of Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson has made a brand out of publicly stepping in it. In early 2021, he coined “White Boy Summer” with a rap song of the same name, which did not impress Dionne Warwick yet earned him a record deal with Soulja Boy. Three years later, Hanks (who also goes by Chet Hanx) appears to be distancing himself from the song.
On Wednesday, July 2, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism published statistical findings showing how “White Boy Summer” became a slogan for hate groups. Hanks responded to the report on Wednesday, July 3.
“White boy summer was created to be fun, playful, and a celebration of fly white boys who love beautiful queens of every race,” Hanks wrote on Instagram. “Anything else that it has been twisted into to support any kind of hate or bigotry against any group of people is deplorable, and I condemn it. I hope that we all can spread love to each other and treat each other with kindness and dignity. Love, Chet Hanks.”
Specifically, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism relayed, “Over the past couple months, white supremacists and neo-Nazis have been calling for the destruction of Pride flags, killing ‘n*****s and communists,’ and the creation of ‘more militia[s]’ all under one slogan: ‘White Boy Summer.’ Several extremist groups including the Proud Boys, White Lives Matter, the Identitarian movement in Europe, and neo-Nazi Active Clubs are all using ‘White Boy Summer’ to spread propaganda, recruit new members, and facilitate targeted hate campaigns including acts of vandalism and hate incidents.”
While Hanks did the right thing by publicly condemning such bigotry and racism, he has not always handled it correctly. In 2015, Hanks defended his past use of racial slurs in a truly indefensible way.
In 2022, Hanks appeared on Ziwe, and the show’s namesake host asked Hanks about his cultural appropriation and whether there were “any marginalized communities you want to apologize to,” and his response was pretty insensitive. “I don’t feel like I’ve truly done anything offensive,” he told Ziwe, adding that “social justice warriors can kick rocks.”
i asked chet hanks if he wanted to apologize to any marginalized communities pic.twitter.com/EEzD9VrtNs
— ziwe (@ziwe) May 6, 2022
That was two years ago, so the hope is that his posting on Instagram indicates growth and was not posted with convenient or performative intent.
