Legendary actor Tom Hanks took a swing at liberal network MS NOW while appearing live on the network.
Hanks attended a celebration Thursday for the opening of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago when MS NOW correspondent Jacob Soboroff drew him in for an impromptu interview. Without skipping a beat, Hanks delivered a one-line zinger at the expense of MS NOW.
“What can I do for the 800 people watching MS NOW?” Hanks asked with a grin.
Not content to leave it there, the “Forrest Gump” star doubled down, effortlessly ripping into the network once more.
“All right, add a zero to i if you need to,” he quipped.
“What can I do for the 800 people watching MS NOW?” Tom Hanks drops zinger about channel’s ratings in brutal live interview! pic.twitter.com/grZxRBnmPP
— TV News Now (@TVNewsNow) June 19, 2026
Soboroff rolled with the punhes, insisting the audience had suddenly grown with the star’s appearance.
“I would say millions now that you’re on our air,” he said.
After a brief discussion about the Obama Presidential Center, Soboroff thanked Hanks for “adding the zero to our ratings today,” but Hanks wasn’t finished, according to Fox News Digital.
Leaning in once more the famous actor said, “I gotta tell ya, I can hear the clicks happening before my very eyes.” Afterward, he walked away from the camera.
The exchange came just months after MSNBC’s rebrand to MS NOW following its parting of ways from NBC News. (RELATED: Senator Jon Ossoff Roasted For Seemingly Staging His Own Media Appearance)
The Hanks family is no stranger to politically charged, headline-grabbing moments. Tom Hanks’ son, Chet, made waves in 2021 when he released the viral “White Boy Summer” anthem — seemingly a tongue-in-cheek take on Megan Thee Stallion’s “Hot Girl Summer” that featured him rapping in Jamaican patois.
The headlines followed him into 2022, when he addressed criticism of the song on by telling comedian Ziwe Fumudoch on her show, “I don’t feel like I’ve truly done anything offensive.”
Editor’s note: Article updated with Chet Hanks’ quote in the 2022 interview.