Watch Chet Hanks Explain ‘White Boy Summer’ And Shout ‘Bomboclaat’ Into The Abyss
The most chaotic interview of the year.
Often, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. But as a wise Twitter user once said, “sometimes the apple falls off the tree and rolls down a hill and into a ravine”.
Yes, we’re talking about Tom Hanks’ deeply unexpected offspring Chet Hanks, who recently made an appearance on the amazing US talk show Ziwe. The show’s host and creator, Ziwe Fumodoh, is a former writer on Desus and Mero and shot to fame for her Instagram Live series Baited, where she interviewed a bunch of ‘cancelled’ and very oblivious celebrities including Alison Roman and Caroline Calloway.
If there was one word to describe Ziwe’s interviewing style, it’s discomfort — and racial discomfort at that. These aren’t so much interviews as confrontations: so who better to have on the second season of her show than Chet Hanks, a man who last year declared it a “White Boy Summer” and inexplicably broke out in Patois — an English-based creole language commonly used in Jamaica — on the Oscars red carpet.
Thankfully, Ziwe asks Chet to explain both of these moments on her show, and friends, we are none the wiser.
“Let’s talk about ‘hot boy summer'”, she begins. “You anointed the summer of 2021 as ‘hot boy summer’. Can you tell us how that’s different from the past 400 summers in American history?” In response, Hanks lets out a coy laugh conceding, “I guess not. I don’t know.” He then goes on to make some noises about how the whole thing kicked off when he got a haircut and was “feeling himself” so decided to record an Instagram video. Ok.
i asked chet hanks how "white boy summer" was different from the past 400 summers in american history pic.twitter.com/4qpDmPVhsl
— ziwe (@ziwe) May 9, 2022
She also addressed the Patois situation. She asks, “Do you think you inspired a generation of boys, white boys particularly, to speak in Patois?” He responds similarly. “I don’t know. I think I did make the Patois accent a little more trending, I guess? I think I was like, I mean like, aside from Jamaican culture itself… I was the first person to get it into the conversation? Just in recent times.”
i asked chet hanks if he inspired a generation to speak patois pic.twitter.com/c5ncvIVi2c
— ziwe (@ziwe) May 10, 2022
There’s just so much going on here. Chet once again attempting a Jamaican accent and shouting “BOMBOCLAAT!” into the abyss. Ziwe’s subsequent look of bewilderment. It’s all just a lot. Oh, and if that wasn’t enough, Ziwe asked Hanks if he’d like to apologise to any marginalised communities, such as the Patois community, to which he responded: “Nah.”
Tom Hanks, come get your weird son.
Watch the full interview below.