Chet Hanks has faced criticism after producing merchandise that features a font closely related to a style used by white nationalists.
The eldest son of movie star Tom Hanks, Chet Hanks is himself an actor and musician who raps under the name Chet Haze.
He has recently come under fire for using a gothic-style font as part of his “White Boy Summer” merchandise clothing collection featuring hoodies, t-shirts, shorts and caps, among other garments. The style of font closely mimics that used on the cover of Hitler’s Mein Kampf and is still used by white nationalists today.
Posting a video of Hanks wearing the new merchandise, social media users condemned the use of the font. One person wrote: “hmm unfortunately the merch looks aggressively racist.” Another commented: “This font is never not a looming threat”.
Someone else wrote: “Jesus. When I think of typefaces white people should avoid, anything remotely calligraphic/blackletter looking pops immediately to mind, especially if it’s going to include the word ‘White’.”
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Hanks came up with the term “White Boy Summer” in a recent video on his Instagram account, captioned: “Is it bout to be a #WhiteboySummer or am I trippin ????”.
In the video, he said: “I just got this feeling man that this summer … it’s about to be a white boy summer.
“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, you know what I mean? Let me know if you guys can vibe with that, and get ready. ‘Cause I am.”
Hanks is very active on social media and is known to post videos while speaking Jamaican patois. He recently reassured his fans that the spirit of “White Boy Summer” had no bad intentions behind it.
In another video, he said: “You know what’s not White Boy Summer … is having any ill will or prejudice towards anybody from a different background, race, walk of life than you.”
Hanks has also released a merchandise range in the same font-type that reads “Black Queen Summer”.
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