Tom Hanks is a Hollywood icon, and we’ve all loved him for his roles in Forrest Gump and Cast Away. The actor has cemented himself in the industry with reputable projects and is one of the most revered artists of our time.
Unfortunately, the most known faces in the world are often easy targets for pinning allegations that spread like wildfire. Hanks has also been accused of some heinous crimes, but is there any truth to these past controversies, or are they all just a hot pile of garbage?
The QAnon fueled controversy about Tom Hanks’ Greek citizenship
Tom Hanks and his wife, Rita Wilson, were officially awarded Greek citizenship in July 2020, a fact that was confirmed by the country’s Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis himself. The couple was given the honor of becoming official citizens because they brought awareness to the wildfires in Athens which led to the demise of over a hundred people (via USA Today).
Moreover, Hanks and Wilson have always been vocal about their love for Greece. They also own a home on the island of Antiparos and love to embrace the country’s culture, and the actor has even converted to the Greek Orthodox Church. But this wholesome story took a dark turn when QAnon alleged that Hanks became a Greek citizen because p*dophilia was recognized as a disability in their country.
A 2012 proposal briefly suggested that p*dophilia is a disability but that was swiftly removed after a massive public outrage. QAnon conspiracy theories accuse many other celebrities of being involved in child s*x trafficking but they’ve been debunked several times. Adding to this, some even alleged that Hanks was arrested for pedophilia during the COVID-19 quarantine in March 2020, which is again, a baseless news with no evidence.
The fabricated BBC headline about Tom Hanks
In December 2024, a TikTok did rounds on the internet and it claimed that Tom Hanks had been arrested for possessing child p*rnography, and it gained over 1.2 million views. The post included a headline from BBC that suggested the actor had been arrested on 135 counts of child p*rn possession (via Snopes).
Later, the BBC Press Office confirmed that no such headline was ever posted. A reverse image search revealed that the screenshot was digitally altered by using a tool, which allowed users to temporarily edit webpage text. Many fact-checking outlets have repeatedly debunked this rumor, and have confirmed that it’s a mere hoax.
In 2020, there was another rumor about Hanks wearing an ankle monitor in Australia for alleged p*dophilia. This claim was also proven false, and there was no evidence to support the same. The persistence of these baseless allegations is truly frightening, as it highlights the dangers of misinformation, and how easy it is to manipulate the masses.
Tom Hanks has been a target for outlandish conspiracies several times now, and the fabricated accusations against him are not just baseless, but also harmful. As consumers, it’s important for us to approach such news with some healthy skepticism because, in this era, the truth matters more than ever.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
