Taking to his YouTube channel in a video called "The Truth About Growing Up As A Hanks", Chet Hanks has opened up on life in the spotlight, where he claimed that he “encountered a lot of disdain, a lot of animosity and a lot of negativity” because many people had this preconceived thought that he must be a “really arrogant, entitled spoiled brat”.
He said, “My experience was even more complicated because on top of fame already being toxic, I wasn’t even famous. I was just the son of somebody famous. I hadn’t done anything to deserve any sort of recognition and that created a lot of contempt for me. My dad is beloved, he’s on this pedestal, but for me it created a lot of contempt".
“People automatically assumed in general that I would just be a really arrogant, entitled spoiled brat, even though I really wasn’t. I’m really privileged but I wasn’t spoiled", Chet continued.
While he accepts that he is "very blessed", and “wouldn’t change my predicament for anything”, Chet also claims that he did not grow up with a "strong male role model" to support him.
“That’s what I didn’t understand as a kid", he continued. "That these people were f*****g jealous of me and they were projecting their own insecurities onto me".
“I needed to hear that as a kid. I didn’t have a strong male role model to tell me that, to tell me: ‘Hey bro, f**k these people, they’re just jealous of you.’ You have all these things that they want, so they’re trying to f*****g throw their shade at you so you can feel shitty about yourself because they’re jealous".
“I needed to hear that, I didn’t have anybody to tell me that. This is me now, as a man, telling the younger version of himself what he needed to hear".
Chet is one of two children that Tom Hanks has with his wife Rita Wilson, while he has a daughter Elizabeth and son Colin from his previous marriage.
