Who Is Chet Hanks? Details On Tom Hanks And Rita Wilson's Rapper Son
He's been the subject of controversy.
getty One of the most beloved actors in Hollywood today is none other than Tom Hanks. But back in March 2020, Hanks, along with his wife Rita Wilson, announced they both contracted coronavirus in Australia, while filming a movie. The couple has since recovered.
As the winner of several awards for his acting, and being responsible for bringing some of the world's most beloved characters to life — including Woody from the "Toy Story" movies, and Mr. Rogers himself — Hanks has been interwoven into our pop culture landscape, and we as Americans are richer for having Hanks in our lives. He is, in a word, wonderful.
The same, however, cannot necessarily be said for his second son, known commonly as Chet Hanks. His behavior in the past has been strange and unusual, to say the least.
Who is Chet Hanks?
Let's look at what we know about him, the video update he gave on his parents' coronavirus status, and his controversies.
He's one of Tom Hanks' four children.
Chet is the firstborn son of Tom Hanks and his second wife, Rita Wilson, and the second-born son of Hanks himself. His older half-brother, Colin Hanks, is the son of Hanks and his late ex-wife, Samantha Lewes. Chet Hanks also has an older half-sister from Lewes, Elizabeth, and a younger full brother, Truman.
Hanks has had multiple acting roles.
Chet Hanks, whose full name is Chester Marlon Hanks, got his start in the industry as an actor, just like his dad.
The younger Hanks, who goes by his nickname "Chet," first came to fame in his tiny role in "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull." He's also had parts in "Empire," where he starred as the white rapper Blake, "Shameless," and "Curb Your Enthusiasm."
He has a daughter.
Chet Hanks is the father of a daughter, Michaiah, with his ex-partner, Tiffany Miles. Michaiah was born in April 2016, and made Tom Hanks a grandfather once again. Tom Hanks has three grandchildren — one from Chet, and two from eldest son Colin Hanks.
Though he tends to keep his daughter out of the public eye, Chet will share a random Instagram post featuring her from time to time.
He's a recovering addict.
In posts on his Instagram page that have since been deleted, the younger Hanks frequently chronicled his struggles with addiction.
"I've been struggling with substance abuse since I was 16 years old. Finally, at the age of 24 I decided to get some help," he said in a now-deleted post celebrating his sobriety.
"With 50 days of sobriety under my belt, I can honestly say I'm the happiest I've ever been. I'm thankful for my family and everybody that cares about me, including my fans. I've been blessed with the programs of AA and NA which allow me to rise above this disease. I'm learning to accept my faults and be ok with being human. If anybody that sees this struggles with addiction, feel free to reach out. Thank you all for the love and support! GOD IS REAL!!!"
Unfortunately, his addiction has made him somewhat of a "black sheep" in his family, in addition to his reoccurring public scandals and public personal issues, drug addiction to cocaine and crack, as well as several stints in rehab.
Tom Hanks commented on his son's sobriety in a 2015 interview, saying, “As a parent, you love your kids unconditionally. You support them every step of the way... You got to applaud the bravery and honesty when it actually comes out of your own house.”
He first came to fame when he remixed Wiz Khalifa's hit song, 'Black & Yellow.'
In what could be described as an ill-advised move, the younger Hanks — who also goes by the rap name Chet Haze (which he adopted while studying at Northwestern College in 2011) — first came to our attention when he remixed Wiz Khalifa's hit song, "Black & Yellow."
After the younger Hanks' remix called "White and Purple," he dubbed himself "Chet Haze" and quickly became a laughing stock amongst hip hop's glitterati for his audacity.
Hanks faced criticism for adopting a patois accent.
Chet Hanks attended the 2020 Golden Globes to receive the Cecil B. DeMille Award. However, he thought it appropriate to celebrate his father's honor by adopting a fake patois (the dialectical language of Jamaica) accent and rapping.
His reaction to the backlash was... interesting, to say the least.
When the younger Hanks started receiving a backlash for adopting what was, in essence, an offensive accent, he responded on Instagram in a now-deleted post — in the same exact accent.
"Average citizens: damn this is scary I can't believe we're on the verge of WW3 let me check the news smh. @CNN: [laughing while crying emojis]," he captioned it.
He tried to get close with Adele after she was seen wearing a Jamaican flag bikini.
While he certainly has a point (we do have bigger things to worry about these days), it's entirely possible that Chet Hanks did all this for attention.
In September 2020, he posted a video (which he has since deleted) of him listening to Adele's "Set Fire In The Rain" with the caption, "PLEASE SOMEONE TELL ADELE HIT MY LINE ASAP !!!!!!!!!!!!... I NEED TO TALK TO HER ABOUT SOMETHING," followed by several Jamaican flag emojis.
This was soon after Adele had posted a photo of herself wearing Bantu knots, a traditional African hairstyle, and a Jamaican flag bikini top to mark the canceled Notting Hill Carnival festivities.
Hanks is launching Actors Advantage on April 5th.
Hanks teased in January 2021 that a big announcement was coming. That big announcement was his launch of an online community for actors called the Actors Advantage.
He posted an update on his Instagram on March 5th with a lengthy explanation of why Actors Advantage is important to him.
He will star in the new Showtime series 'Your Honor.'
Hanks posted on Instagram on September 17, 2020, announcing that he will be acting in the new Showtime series with Bryan Cranston called "Your Honor."
This will be his sixth TV series presence and fourth big TV acting role as the character Joey, a criminal on the show and best friend of Carlo Baxter (Jimi Stanton), who is supposed to follow in the criminal footsteps of his father, Jimmy Baxter, (Michael Stuhlbarg).
Bernadette Giacomazzo is an editor, writer, publicist, and photographer whose work has appeared in Teen Vogue, People, Us Weekly, The Source, XXL, HipHopDX, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Post, BET.com, and more.