For Millennials. By Millennials.
Tom Hanks and his family usually do not make news headlines. That is of course, except Tom Hanks’ son, Chet Hanks. The younger Hanks is being called out for “verbal blackface” at the last Golden Globe Awards. And here’s how he has reacted.
Related: Chet Hanks Slams People Hoarding Up On Toilet Paper For Coronavirus
Chet Hanks gets called out for performing “verbal blackface” earlier this year
Earlier this year, Chet Hanks shared a video of his from the Golden Globe Awards while speaking patois. The caption of the video was:
BIG UP FIMI WHOL FAMILY SOON COM AT DI AWARDS NA SEEN CHUNE IN.
For a while, there were no objections to this video. It got lost in the wilderness, despite the bizarre Jamaican accent. However, Chet recently decided to join the Clubhouse, which is a new audio app that allows members to join chat rooms and talk to each other on an invite-only. There, some users accused Chet Hanks of performing “Verbal Blackface”. And of course, Twitter got a hold of it:
https://twitter.com/mikes_yk/status/1334319786323570690?s=20
In response, Chet defended himself by saying that his Jamaican accent was actually like an English accent, inspired by “a bunch of English gangster movies”. And his followers did not take that very well, especially on Twitter. They felt that Chet was clearly making fun of the accent, rather than showing actual appreciation to patios.
https://twitter.com/_AlexisBreanneS/status/1334336161045762054?s=20
If Chet wants to talk patois then come through talk it. But that’s not what this is about. I speak a little Spanish, and want to become fluent but I’m not going to put on Spanish accent in front of people for jokes. Whether *I* mean it as a joke or not is not important.
— First Of His Name (@cozbenson) December 3, 2020
Twitter was having none of it
Moreover, other Twitter users also highlighted that Chet Hanks didn’t use the Jamaican accent while defending himself. And so, they believed it was about time he got “called out”:
https://twitter.com/__sunflxwer/status/1334321181160337416?s=20
https://twitter.com/PrincessShimmy/status/1334314446391566339?s=20
And what followed were memes and some incredible jokes on Chet and the rest of the Hanks. Twitter’s sense of humor is second to none, of course.
Chet Hanks on Clubhouse rn pic.twitter.com/6uupgqFizT
— J A (@oowuap) December 3, 2020
what if Tom Hanks speaks in a Jamaican accent at home what if that’s where Chet Hanks learned it from
— banana (@notannaconduh) December 3, 2020
Finally, after all the outrage, Chet Hanks gave in and said that he won’t ever use a Jamaican accent again. However, it seems that most of Twitter were not so sure.
https://twitter.com/HeyShimmy/status/1334335580361125890?s=20
Basically Chet said he will no longer do patois but a new accent is being downloaded
— vic (@victoriasanusi) December 3, 2020
Unfortunately, we can only know for sure once Chet Hanks has dropped his new video. Or, he decides to revisit Clubhouse. Until then, we’re in the dark as much as you are. What do you guys think? Did his accent hint towards racism? Let us know in the comments below.