Rapper, model and actor Chet Hanks has tagged himself “OK” as he continues to arrange his return to the United States after being stranded in Colombia without his passport last week.
Hanks, the eldest son of actors Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, explained in an Instagram video on Friday that he traveled to Puerto Rico to attend his friend Max’s birthday, where the 35-year-old father had a “good time.” But when Hanks was ready to return home, after deciding to extend his trip a little further south and outside of American territory, he realized that it would not be that easy.
“I’m in Puerto Rico, and we’re all about to leave. I go, well, I’m just, you know, two or three hours away from Medellin. Why don’t I go keep my friend Taylor, who lives in Medellin? Fuck that. Yeah, it sounds good, right?” Hanks said in his Instagram video post last week.
He explained that Hanks, a dual citizen of the United States and Greece, was traveling using his Greek passport. This is because his US passport was about to expire when he left for Puerto Rico. The problem arose when Hanks arrived at the Medellin airport and was told that he would need a US passport to return to the country after his quick flight to Colombia.
“They tell me that if I’m using a foreign passport, I need a green card to get back to America. I don’t have a green card because I’m an American citizen. I don’t have an American passport, so I’m literally stuck in Colombia,” he said in the clip.
The “black sheep” of the Hanks family, whose controversies and legal skirmishes belie his father’s clean-cut image, seemed far from distraught by his predicament when he told followers that the only embassy in Colombia where he could resolve his travel issue was in Bogota, about 260 miles from Medellin.
“I have no idea what I’m going to do… I don’t want to go to Bogota, so, yeah, release me. You know what I’m saying: release me,” he said at the end of his travel update video.
On Saturday, Hanks posted an update on his Instagram to let his fans know that he is safe and sound in Colombia. “ESTAMO BIEN,” he wrote in the caption of a photo of himself with R&B artist Max.
Hanks was apparently still in Medellin on Monday, as he noted in a new video post where he discussed his insomnia, his sobriety and the recent physical altercation and arrest involving Shia LaBeouf before Mardi Gras in New Orleans.
Hanks’ screen career included recurring roles on Running Point, Empire, Shameless, and Your Honor; He also had guest roles on Curb Your Enthusiasm and Atlanta.
Since his career began in early 2010, he has risen to internet notoriety, declaring that 2021 will be the “White Boy Summer” on his Instagram page, which he has used over the years to stir up controversy and espouse his political beliefs and ideas on COVID-19 vaccines, the Black Lives Matter movement and more topics.
