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Tom Hanks' Son Accused Of Cultural Appropriation Over Fake Caribbean Accent

Tom Hanks' Son Accused Of Cultural Appropriation Over Fake Caribbean Accent

He was filmed speaking in a bizarre Caribbean accent

Tom Wood

Tom Wood

Chet Hanks, the son of Hollywood superstar Tom Hanks, has defended himself against allegations of cultural appropriation after he was filmed speaking in a strange Caribbean accent at the Golden Globes.

Doubling down on his strange red carpet antics at the award ceremony, he was filmed speaking in Patois - well, attempting to, anyway - at a pool party last weekend.

Now, he's released a video in which he addresses the accusations of cultural appropriation that have been levelled at him in the aftermath.

Bizarrely, he also chose to compare him speaking in Patois to black people taking up snowboarding.

Hmm...not sure about that one Chet.

Instagram

In the video clip, the 29-year-old actor said: "People are saying snowboarding is a terrible example because you can't compare a sport to people's hair.

"If you're focusing on what I said about snowboarding as a sport, you're missing the point. I didn't mean it as a sport, I meant it as a reference for a community that surrounds it. The community that surrounds snowboarding is mainly white."

He continued: "Anybody can snowboard. Anybody can go forth and perfect their skills at snowboarding, I'm not saying white people have a monopoly on snowboarding.

"I'm saying it's a reflection for a community which is predominantly white. This is the other response I've been seeing is people saying, white people have no culture."

He went on to talk about the 'variety of European cultures' and how the whole notion is 'confusing' to him.

Instagram

Chet then went on to add: "Let's assume it's true that white people don't have a culture.

"If they did have a culture what would it be like. If white people, white Americans have a culture, what would you imagine that to be like?

"I imagine that to be like snowboarding.

"Not saying that it has to be that way or should be, but that's just for the most part what it is."

It's not exactly clear what he's on about here, is it?

Luckily, he then chose a different analogy. It's not better, but at least we can understand what he's on about.

Instagram

Hanks - formerly known as Chet Haze - went on: "If a white person gets into hip hop and they start getting braids and gold teeth, some people call that appropriation.

"But if a black person puts on a cowboy hat and gets into country music, there's nothing wrong with that. Why would anybody have a problem with that?

"It's because of this whole idea of theft, of 'they steal it from us, they take it from us, they take it for themselves and benefit off of it without helping the people they took it from'.

"Why does it have to be all about stealing? Why do you have to look at it like a white person who's wearing braids and gold teeth is trying to manipulate and steal from black culture?

"Why can't it just be that he loves black culture and that's just what speaks to him.

"Isn't it just as easy to look at it from the other perspective, which is just people like what they like, they love what they love, and nobody should have a problem with that.

"Why are we so quick to be angry and tense over the blurring of racial communities, instead of just being welcoming towards it?"

To be fair, this isn't the first time something like this has come up for Chet. In fact, back in 2015 he used the 'n' word in a photo caption, which - completely understandably - made some people very angry.

He later blamed it on drug use and completed a course of rehabilitation.

Featured Image Credit: Instagram

Topics: TV and Film, US News, US Entertainment, Weird