For the most part, Tom Hanks' family is pretty low-key.
And then there's Tom's son, Chet Hanks.
Earlier this year, Chet posted a video of himself at the Golden Globes speaking patois, and captioned it, "BIG UP FIMI WHOL FAMILY SOON COM AT DI AWARDS NA SEEN 🔥 🔥 🔥 CHUNE IN."
This week, the 30-year-old found himself defending his bizarre Jamaican accent after joining Clubhouse*.
Users on the app accused Chet of performing "verbal Blackface":
Someone just told Chet Hanks that he commits verbal blackface looooool
Chet reportedly compared his use of a Jamaican accent to using an English accent after watching "a bunch of English gangster movies," which did not go over well:
chet started doing a british accent and everyone yelled “the english were not oppressed!!” i am crying 😭😭😭
Some users felt he was mocking the accent instead of showing true appreciation for patois:
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.
Others found it odd that he didn't use his Jamaican accent while defending his right to use it:
not Chet Hanks speaking in his normal white man voice defending his right to speak in a Jamaican accent and Jamaican slang.....
This user felt it was "about time" he got called out for it:
Not Chet Hanks on Clubhouse defending why he needs to keep talking in a Jamaican accent and people dragging him...it’s about time
Of course, there were plenty of memes...
Chet Hanks on Clubhouse rn
...and plenty of jokes:
what if Tom Hanks speaks in a Jamaican accent at home what if that’s where Chet Hanks learned it from
But really though. I would like to know this, also.
In the end, Chet apparently conceded that he wouldn't use Jamaican patois going forward:
At 9:14 PM CST Chet Hanks says he has no intention to continue using the Jamaican accent he's been appropriating. Shoutout to Clubhouse. Revisit this later.
Others weren't quite convinced:
Basically Chet said he will no longer do patois but a new accent is being downloaded