Chet Hanks, who previously got dragged for predicting a "white boy summer," has now revealed his anti-vax stance.
The 31-year-old son of Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson (who were among the first celebrities to publicly share their COVID-19 diagnosis last year) had his half a million Instagram followers doing a double take after sharing his controversial thoughts on the COVID-19 vaccine.
On Aug. 9, Chet posted a video on social media that at first seemed like an endorsement of the shot.
"I've been kind of on the fence about this for a while, that's why I never spoke on it," he said from inside his car. "But with the amount of people that I know recently that have gotten COVID, and with the numbers rising, I think it's important for me to say like, I got the vaccine, I think everybody should."
The Shameless actor added, "It's really important that we all do this as citizens, as Americans. We have to look out for each other and get this s--t under control."
Suddenly, Chet changed his tune and shouted, "PSYCH, bitch! If it ain't broke, don't fix it. I never had COVID. Ya ain't sticking me with that motherf--king needle."
He then falsely claimed that COVID-19 is "the motherf--king flu," saying, "Get over it, OK? If you're sick, stay inside. OK, why we working around y'all? If you're in danger, stay your ass inside. I'm tired of wearing a motherf--king mask."
He titled the clip "SUPER IMPORTANT PSA GUYS LETS GET THRU THIS TOGETHER." On his Story, the singer wrote, "THE VACCINE SHOULD BE A CHOICE NOT A REQUIREMENT TO PERFORM OUR BASIC RIGHTS YEAH I SAID IT !!!!! BE AS MAD AS YOU WANT IDGAF !!!!"
"Wow that went downhill fast," one Instagram user commented. Another said, "Yikes bro," as more than 617,000 Americans have died after contracting the coronavirus.
"Does daddy approve of this message?" wrote another social media user, referring to Tom's own experience surviving COVID-19 last March. At the time, he and Rita tested positive while filming Baz Luhrmann's movie about Elvis Presley in Australia.
The Post actor explained, "We felt a bit tired, like we had colds, and some body aches," noting that Rita had "some chills that came and went" as well as a slight fever.
He later shared, "@ritawilson and I want to thank everyone here Down Under who are taking such good care of us. We have Covid-19 and are in isolation so we do not spread it to anyone else. There are those for whom it could lead to a very serious illness."
After Chet's anti-vax comments went viral, one popular tweet read, "The biggest campaign for vaccinations should be, 'Do you really want to be like Chet Hanks? Millions will get that [shot emoji]."
Another Twitter user added, "To be fair, if you're taking any advice from Chet Hanks about literally anything in life, you need to re-evaluate your entire existence."