How Tom Hanks Got Unwittingly Involved In Feud Between His Son Chet And Tekashi 6ix9ine

Tom Hanks in 2017's The Circle
(Image credit: (STX Films))

One of Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson’s four children is a rapper and actor who has gone by the name “Chet Haze.” The 29-year-old recently spoke out about a current controversy in the hip-hop world centering on Tekashi 6ix9ine that Snoop Dogg and Meek Mill have voiced their opinions about. And Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood actor’s name is getting pulled into the mix.

Rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine was set to face his life behind bars on racketeering and firearm charges until the 24-year-old decided to cooperate with the government and testify against members of his former gang for a shortened prison sentence. Tekashi was recently sent home from prison to serve his sentence in home confinement due to COVID-19 concerns.

Amidst the discourse surrounding Tekashi’s actions, he recently released the music video for his new single “GOOBA” that has scored a record-breaking amount of views in its first 24-hours. Chet Hanks had a lot of thoughts on the rapper and took to Instagram to post a string of comments on 6ix9ine’s recent actions. In Chet Hanks’ words:

Don’t be fooled by social media, that dude is SCARED SHITLESS but has no choice but to laugh and make light of it cause he knows he’s a marked man for the rest of his life either way. People see a bunch of jewelry and diamond teeth and numbers on Instagram and actually believe dude is really happy as fuck living the life… All I see is FEAR.

Tekashi saw the comments via an Instagram repost by hip-hop media personality DJ Akademiks. In response, here’s what 6ix9ine wrote:

Wishing his dad a speedy recovery.

It’s tough to tell whether he was either choosing the high road over Chet Hanks’ comments or poking fun about Hanks’ shots considering the state of the world, but either way he pulled Tom Hanks in a situation that has nothing to do with him. Considering the star status of Hanks, Chet must get responses like this a lot.

Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson were diagnosed with COVID-19 back in March while on set of Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis Presley biopic. The pair were the first major public figures to test positive for the virus. Chet Hanks memorably posted an update shortly after their diagnosis to assure fans “they’re not trippin.”

Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson have since recovered from COVID-19 after weeks in isolation over in Australia and are safely back in their homes. The Hollywood couple have been open about their experiences with the virus spreading throughout the globe. Rita Wilson has expressed how COVID-19 and her treatment made her feel and they are both donating plasma in an effort to help medical professionals develop a vaccine.

Stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for more news about Tom Hanks and his family.

Sarah El-Mahmoud
Staff Writer

Sarah El-Mahmoud has been with CinemaBlend since 2018 after graduating from Cal State Fullerton with a degree in Journalism. In college, she was the Managing Editor of the award-winning college paper, The Daily Titan, where she specialized in writing/editing long-form features, profiles and arts & entertainment coverage, including her first run-in with movie reporting, with a phone interview with Guillermo del Toro for Best Picture winner, The Shape of Water. Now she's into covering YA television and movies, and plenty of horror. Word webslinger. All her writing should be read in Sarah Connor’s Terminator 2 voice over.