WARNING: This story contains explicit language.
Tom Hanks’ son Chet has joined the long list of celebrities who are referring to Tekashi 6ix9ine as a “rat” after he was released four months early from prison — and now his dad has been dragged into it.
6ix9ine was sentenced in December after he testified against members of the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods gang. The deal earned him leniency from charges that could have subjected him to a mandatory minimum of 37 years in prison for crimes that included orchestrating a shooting in which an innocent bystander was wounded.
Last Friday, the 24-year-old rapper released a new song and video created during his home confinement just weeks after being freed from federal lockup.
6ix9ine new music video broke YouTube’s record for the most-watched hip-hop video in a 24-hour span and he broke an Instagram Live record on May 8 when he returned to the public eye. There were more than two million viewers at the video’s peak.
Chet took to Instagram to question 6ix9ine’s popularity after his release from prison.
“I’d rather be broke and be able to go where I like/do as I please than have 100 billion and have to live in hiding with 24/7 security team… think about that for all you idiots calling 69 a ‘goat’ and ‘legendary,'” Chet wrote on his Instagram Story.
“He literally told you on the stand that ‘the gangster image was a person to boost my career’ only to get out talking about upping 100 shots at the chicken spot??? And y’all still going for it.”
Chet was referring to when 6ix9ine took the stand in September 2019 and testified against two alleged members of the Brooklyn street gang Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods in Manhattan’s Thurgood Marshall Courthouse.
6ix9ine described how he discovered a formula for success with the crew before betraying it by becoming a prosecution witness.
The rapper told the court that his role in the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods was to “just keep making hits and be the financial support for the gang … so they could buy guns and stuff like that.”
The Stoopid rapper testified that in return, he received “my career. I got the street credibility. The videos, the music, the protection — all of the above.”
“Don’t be fooled by social media,” Chet warned his followers. “That dude is SCARED SH–LESS but has no choice but to laugh and make light of it cuz he knows he’s a marked man for the rest of his life either way.
“People see a bunch of jewelry and diamond teeth and numbers on Instagram and actually believe dude is really happy as f–k living the life… All I see is FEAR.
6ix9ine was made aware of Chet’s comments by DJ Akademiks when he posted them on his Instagram page.
The GOOBA rapper took to the comment section of Akademiks’ post and wrote, “Wishing his dad a speedy recovery,” referencing Tom Hanks’ recent battle with coronavirus.
Tom announced in early March that he and his wife had tested positive for the virus. They recuperated while in Australia and returned to Los Angeles after making a full recovery.
The feud between Chet and 6ix9ine comes after the rapper returned to the public eye to talk about being called a “rat.”
Many rappers took to Instagram after the release of 6ix9ine to call him a rat, including Meek Mill and Snoop Dogg.
6ix9ine addressed “snitching” against the members of the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods gang during his record-breaking Instagram Live.
“Y’all really didn’t have a reason to dislike me. But now, y’all got a reason, so the go-to is, ‘He snitched,’” the rapper said. “My fans, my family don’t deserve that, and I’m sorry. Listen, I snitched (and) I ratted, but who was I supposed to be loyal to?”
The FEFE rapper went on to explain why he “snitched” on his former manager, Shotti, and members of the gang by addressing rumours involving Shotti and Sara Molina, the mother of his daughter.
“But where was the loyalty when you were sleeping with my baby mother?” he said. “Where was the loyalty when you were caught on the wiretap trying to kill me? Where was the loyalty when you tried to kidnap my mother? Where was the loyalty when you stole millions of dollars, so who broke it first?”
The rapper went on to say how he wasn’t “about that gang s–t” and that he saw hip hop as a way to get himself and his family out of poverty.
“When I met son, he was sleeping on the rug! ‘Listen, I’m a Mexican, rainbow-haired kid and I rap. I’m not about that gang s–t but I know how to get us out,’” 6ix9ine said. “If you can’t hold me down out here in the free world, what makes you think if I would’ve held it down, you wouldn’t violate me in prison?
“I appreciate every little thing and I did nothing wrong. Yes, I didn’t need all of that beef. I’m the biggest artist in the f–king world.”
(WARNING: This video contains explicit language.)
Tom Hanks has not responded to 6ix9ine’s comment as of this writing.