Source: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin / Getty
Actor Chet Hanks has publically come out against hate groups using his “White Boy Summer” song and catchphrase for ill intent and recruitment.
On Wednesday (July 3), Chet Hanks, the son of the renowned actor, Tom Hanks, denounced the usage of his trending song and catchphrase “White Boy Summer” by white nationalist groups. In a post on Instagram, the actor posted a quick video with the caption: “White boy summer was created to be fun, playful, and a celebration of fly white boys who love beautiful queens of every race,” he wrote. “Anything else that it has been twisted into to support any kind of hate or bigotry against any group of people is deplorable and I condemn it. I hope that we all can spread love to each other and treat each other with kindness and dignity.”
The post comes after a report issued by the Global Project Against Hate & Extremism (GPAHE), which explicitly named Hanks’ song and phrase, coined in 2021, as a rallying slogan for white nationalist groups in their communications on the private social media platform Telegram and other outreach efforts online in addition to promoting acts of violence. The report names the Proud Boys extremist group as one of the first adopters in the wake of the murder of George Floyd, along with other domestic groups and those based in European nations like France and Finland. “This is the story of how an influential person with a large social media audience can inspire a viral and dangerous narrative and motivate white supremacist groups worldwide,” the report stated.
Hanks has tried to distance himself from these groups using “White Boy Summer” in the past. “Take it how you want, I’m not talking about Trump, Nascar-type white. I’m talking about me, (rappers) Jon B. Jack Harlow-type white boys. Let me know if you guys can vibe with that, and get ready. ‘Cause I am,” he wrote back in 2021. But the Your Honor actor came under intense scrutiny on his initial attempt to sell merchandise with the phrase that bore a font that was strikingly similar to that used by white extremist groups, as well as the typeface used on Nazi leader Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf.”
