"I was like the first person to like kind of like get it in the conversation."
Say what you want about Chet Hanks — he is sticking by his guns.
Not even the infamous stare of incredulity from Ziwe could make the son of Tom back down from his dogged insistence on sporadically adopting a Jamaican accent — something he, in this incredibly awkward interview, claimed he made trendy.
In a clip shared by the interviewer on Tuesday, she asked him if he thought he inspired a generation of white boys to speak Patois... and his answer both did and did not disappoint.
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View Story"I don't know... I think I did kind of make the Patois accent more like, a little more... trending I guess?" he mused.
He said that aside from Jamaican and Caribbean culture itself — which is "obviously very vibrant" — "I was like the first person to like kind of like get it in the conversation. Like just recent times."
i asked chet hanks if he inspired a generation to speak patois pic.twitter.com/c5ncvIVi2c
— ziwe (@ziwe) May 10, 2022 @ziwe
With the seldom-speechless Ziwe left temporarily that, she challenged him on some Patois phrases, such as "small up yaself" (which means "make room"); but the 31-year-old didn't seem to know.
"Do you even speak Patois?" she enquired.
"I mean, not really," he admitted, conceding he only knew "two or tree tings", including "BOMBACLAT!"
Ziwe appeared to be the only one in the room who seemed to know he had just roared something incredibly offensive at her.
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View StoryThe host also challenged Hanks on his controversial anointment of the summer of 2021 as "White Boy Summer", asking how this was any different from the previous 400 summers in American history.
The rapper was equally stumped, and could only recall how the ill-advised declaration came from his "fresh ass haircut" at the time.
i asked chet hanks how "white boy summer" was different from the past 400 summers in american history pic.twitter.com/4qpDmPVhsl
— ziwe (@ziwe) May 9, 2022 @ziwe
Sensing far too late that he was in deep water, Hanks asks his interviewer "Are you trying to make me nervous?"
"Do I make you nervous? Are you afraid of Black women?" she shot back.
"No," he insisted.
"Maybe you should be," she advised.
The clips, posted on Ziwe's Twitter, came with the following disclaimer:
"Our apologies to the Jamaican community for this cultural appropriation in the name of baiting."