Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson have been swept up in yet another drama with their son Chet – this time with a shocking revelation that they sent him to a controversial “wilderness camp” to set him on the straight and narrow.
Chet, 32, has regularly spoken out about how he was raised by his famous parents, and claims the couple were “manipulated” by the Utah-located facility because the camp would earn more money with
each day its charges remained in its care.
WATCH: Tom Hanks talks his ever-lasting love with Rita Wilson (article continues below video)
Speaking on a podcast in the US last week, Chet alleged that Tom and Rita, both 66, were treated as “whales who had the resources” to keep him at the facility for a “long f–king time”.
In a rant posted to his YouTube channel nine months ago, Chet was at pains to tell his followers that he didn’t blame Tom and Rita for sending him away when he was 17.
“I had been getting in a lot of fights with my parents … acting out, smoking weed, drinking, amongst other things. My parents would ground me, I would get more rebellious, and it was a vicious cycle,” he said.
“On May 30, 2008, I’ll never forget the date … I’m sleeping in my bed, the lights turn on, it’s 4am. I look at the foot of my bed and see two large bald men staring at me. They said, ‘Your parents are worried about you, we’re here to help, you can do this the easy way or the hard way.’”
Chet then went on to explain that the men drove him from LA to Utah,
where he would be forced to “earn” basic items like packets of sugar to help
him survive.
A source tells New Idea that since his ordeal, Chet describes the camp “in a way that sounds almost cult-like”.
“Chet is the first to say he needed something drastic to happen, but perhaps it didn’t need to be quite that drastic,” says a source.
“He is very forgiving of his parents – he feels like they were misled into sending him away. He feels bad that he drove them to the point where they felt like they had no other choice.”
Meanwhile, sources close to Tom and Rita say they are “dismayed” that Chet is once again ranting publicly about his “mainly very privileged” childhood.
“Tom and Rita tried everything with Chet when he was a kid,” says a source.
“Sending him to Utah is one of their biggest regrets, but neither blames the other. They were united in that decision and they now accept it was the wrong one.”
The ‘White Boy Summer’ rapper has hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons in recent years, including being accused of domestic violence by his ex-girlfriend Kiana Parker in a lawsuit filed in 2021.
In 2016, it was revealed he’d fathered a love child, daughter Michaiah.
“Ever since Chet was a teenager, Tom and Rita have had trouble with
him, despite their constant and best efforts” says the source.
“It doesn’t look like that’s about to stop any time soon.”
‘They felt they had no other choice’
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