Chet Hanks’ Ups and Downs Over the Years: Addiction Struggles, Relationship With Parents and More

Chet Hanks has endured his fair share of ups and downs over the years.

Chet is the eldest son of Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, who wed in 1988 and are also parents to son Truman Hanks. Tom is also the father of son Colin Hanks and daughter Elizabeth Ann Hanks, whom he welcomed with late wife Samantha Lewes.

Over the years, Chet has described himself as the “black sheep” of his family due to his controversial remarks and struggles with substance abuse. In February 2022, Chet made headlines for claiming his childhood was “complicated” because of his parents' success.

“My experience was even more complicated because, on top of fame already being toxic, I wasn’t even famous,” he said in a YouTube video at the time. “I was just the son of somebody famous, so I hadn’t even done anything to deserve any sort of recognition and that created a lot of contempt.”

Keep scrolling to see Chet’s ups and downs over the years:

2007

Chet made his acting debut in the Bratz movie as Dexter.

2011

While studying theater at Northwestern University, Chet released a song “White and Purple” under the alias Chet Haze. The single was a take on Wiz Khalifa’s hit “Black and Yellow,” and he changed the lyrics to match his school.

2015

After taking an extended break from social media, Chet revealed he spent his summer in rehab to treat his cocaine addiction.

"A couple months ago I was selling coke [and] doing coke until I couldn't even snort it up my nose anymore because it was so clogged. I even smoked crack," he said in a September 2015 Instagram video. "If I can change, you can change. There is a solution. ... It's been a long journey discovering who I am. Because [of] all the pressures that I've dealt with in my life — you know, being the son of my dad and everything. Just trying to find where I fit in."

2016

Chet became a father in April 2016 when he welcomed daughter Michaiah with ex Tiffany Miles. That same year, he also scored a recurring role on Shameless as Charlie.

2018

Following his stint on the Showtime drama, Chet later snagged another role on Empire. He joined the supporting cast for season 4 as Blake and was bumped up to a main character the following season.

In June 2018, Chet opened up about how fatherhood inspired him to get sober.

"There's a part of you that knows that you need to make a change but you can't really shut that door on your life and just move on to a new chapter," he said to Entertainment Tonight. "For me, it took something drastic happening, like becoming a father, for me to make the change."

2020

Chet raised eyebrows for doing a Jamaican accent during an interview at the Golden Globes in January 2020. After being accused of cultural appropriation, Chet broke his silence and said the bit was all in good fun.

"Enough's enough, all right. Look, never in a million years would I have thought that me just goofing around on the red carpet would have got so much attention, but man, it's been crazy," he explained via Instagram. "One thing I'm not joking about is my love and appreciation for Jamaica and the Jamaican culture. That has been incredible, all the love I've been getting from Jamaica ... it's touched me deeply in my heart, so thank you guys so much."

2021

Chet sparked controversy again the following year when he declared that summer 2021 was going to be a “white boy summer,” which was a play on Megan Thee Stalltion’s hit single “Hot Girl Summer.”

“I just got this feeling man, that this summer is, it’s about to be a white boy summer,” he said via Instagram in March 2021. “Take it how you want. … I’m talking about, you know, me, [singer] Jon B., [rapper] Jack Harlow-type white boy summer. Let me know if you guys can vibe with that and get ready, because I am.”

One month after his declaration, Chet dropped his single “White Boy Summer” under the pen name Chet Hanx. The song was criticized and accused of cultural appropriation and promoting white privilege.

In September 2021, Chet raised eyebrows again when he claimed his parents never gave him an allowance growing up.

“It was really kind of a double-edged sword,” he said during an interview on Channel 5 With Andrew Callaghan. “People assume I lived this super privileged life, richy rich, and that just wasn’t the case. It was actually the opposite. They never f–king gave me an allowance. I don’t know if I’m the brokest rich kid or the richest broke kid.”

2022

The following year, Chet doubled down on his comments about his parents. He alleged that he had a “toxic” upbringing and didn’t have a strong role model growing up.

“I didn’t have a strong male role model to tell me that. To tell me, ‘Bro, f–k these people. They are just jealous of you. You have all these things that they want so they are trying to f–king throw their shade at you so you can feel s–ty about yourself because they are jealous,'” he said in a YouTube video. “I needed to hear that. I didn’t have anyone to tell me that. This is me now telling the younger version of myself what I needed to hear then.”

2023

Despite speaking out against his parents over the years, Chet was reunited with his mom and dad for the holiday season. Chet and Tom posed for a photo together that the rapper shared via social media.

“Gang,” Chetwrote via Instagram in December 2023. In the photo, the father-son duo subtly smiled while sitting next to each other.