Rapper Chet Hanks — the son of Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson — has responded to the deluge of criticism he has received for his decision to refuse the COVID-19 vaccination, saying that he has the legal right to not get vaccinated. The outspoken celebrity also claimed his immune system “doesn’t need to be tampered with.”
In an Instagram video posted Thursday, Chet Hanks addressed the looming question of whether the COVID-19 vaccine should be mandatory for all Americans. While many on the left are pressuring government and businesses to mandate injections across the board, others are arguing a blanket requirement would violate their civil liberties and right to medical privacy.
Hanks clearly stands in the latter category. “I’m gonna keep this real simple for you guys. Real simple, OK?” he said in the video. “Just like you have the right to be mad at me ’cause I said I’m not going to get the vaccine… Just like you have the right to be mad, I have the right to not get that shit.”
Both Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson contracted COVID-19 last year and have since recovered.
In the video, Hanks said his immune system doesn’t need to be “tampered with.”
“I wanted to [get the vaccine], but my immune system said, ‘it’s good.’ OK? It doesn’t need to be tampered with, OK, it said, ‘it’s good,’ OK?” he added. “Let’s be real. 99 percent of you motherfuckers wouldn’t uses a shampoo that’s not FDA approved but you’re willing to get some experimental government injection.”
Hanks concluded: “There’s more evidence for UFOs being real than that vaccine being healthy for you. Just sayin’. If the aliens are out there, I’m ready for you all to come get me. Let’s get the fuck out of here or am I getting my vaccine papers?”
It remains unclear what UFO statistics Hanks was referring to.
![](https://media.breitbart.com/media/2021/08/GettyImages-1197746560.jpg)
(L-R) Samantha Bryant, Colin Hanks, Rita Wilson, Tom Hanks, Elizabeth Ann Hanks, Chet Hanks, and Truman Theodore Hanks attend the 77th Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 05, 2020 in Beverly Hills, California. (Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
As Breitbart News has reported, the COVID-19 vaccine has been shown to be effective in preventing or reducing serious illness and death, though perhaps not as effective as initially advertised to the public, especially since fully credible data on the recent delta variant is hard to come by.
Even Dr. Anthony Fauci has warned that the vaccines are less effective against the new variants. People who have received the vaccine can still contract the virus and pass it to non-vaccinated individuals.
People who continue to be the most hesitant to get the COVID-19 vaccine are blacks and Hispanics, according to an August 4 report from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
In New York City, just 31 percent of blacks have been vaccinated. Bloomberg News has reported that some heavily non-white areas of New York “have lower vaccination rates than Mississippi.”
Earlier this week, Chet Hanks posted his initial vaccine-themed video in which he announced he isn’t getting the vaccine while erroneously equating COVID-19 to the seasonal flu.
“I never had COVID, you ain’t sticking me with that motherfucking needle, it’s the motherfucking flu, get over it,” he said.
Follow David Ng on Twitter @HeyItsDavidNg. Have a tip? Contact me at dng@breitbart.com
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