If you’re not terminally online, on Twitter, or part of The Cut Industrial Culture Complex, you may not have heard about the current “Nepo Baby” discourse online. The shortest version to not insult those who find it pervasive and obvious, is the New York Mag wrote a “The Year of the Nepo Baby” “exposé” (infographic basically with some quizzes and articles) detailing those famous celebrities that are the children of other well-known celebrities. I.e., they are “Nepo babies,” celebrities that have been favored by the privilege of nepotism, giving them a leg up in life and their field. Some of the examples listed in NY mag are reasonably appropriate, and others are a little ridiculous, but whatever, it’s supposed to be an entertaining article, I guess.
But a lot of celebrities aren’t taking it very well; rather than acknowledging the privilege of having famous parents that afforded them ease into various arts and entertainment industries—and the wealth that their parents afforded them to work on their careers—many of them are just complaining about being called out.
Lottie Moss, the 24-year-old OnlyFans model and paternal half-sister of Kate Moss, has led the charge of fighting back, Eve Hewson, the actor, and daughter of U2’s Bono, has been mocking the complaints of nepotism. Singer Lily Allen has deflected by saying what about political nepo babies in Washington? O’Shea Jackson, the actor and son of rapper/actor Ice Cube, has also fired back, insisting he’s worked hard and earned his career. And now, Jamie Lee Curtis, the daughter of famous Hollywood royalty Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh, who has described herself as the “OG Nepo Baby,” is entering the fray.
While Curtis is definitely acknowledging and has acknowledged in the past the privilege that nepotism afforded her—which I think is really what everyone wants to hear, acknowledge and move on, no one’s going to crucify you for being born lucky—she says the current conversation is “designed to try to diminish and denigrate and hurt.”
“I have been a professional actress since I was 19 years old, so that makes me an OG Nepo Baby,” he wrote in an impassioned Instagram post. “I’ve never understood, nor will I, what qualities got me hired that day, but since my first two lines on Quincy as a contract player at Universal Studios to this last spectacular creative year some 44 years later, there’s not a day in my professional life that goes by without my being reminded that I am the daughter of movie stars. The current conversation about nepo babies is just designed to try to diminish and denigrate and hurt.”
“For the record, I have navigated 44 years with the advantages my associated and reflected fame brought me; I don’t pretend there aren’t any that try to tell me that I have no value on my own. It’s curious how we immediately make assumptions and snide remarks that someone related to someone else who is famous in their field for their art would somehow have no talent whatsoever,” she continued.
For the record, I don’t think any reasonable person is saying nepo babies have no value, but even the wealth thing—the luxury of time, someone paying your education and rent, and thus being able to work on your art at your own pace without having to worry about paying the bills or worrying about where the next meal or paycheck comes from—is something that many nepo babies don’t seem to recognize.
In fact, while nepotism—defined as the practice among those with power or influence of favoring relatives, friends, or associates, especially by giving them jobs—is real, celebrities have the twofold aspect of wealth privilege and nepotism.
“I have come to learn that is simply not true. I have suited up and shown up for all different kinds of work with thousands of thousands of people, and every day I’ve tried to bring integrity and professionalism and love and community and art to my work,” Curtis finished. “I am not alone. There are many of us. Dedicated to our craft. Proud of our lineage. Strong in our belief in our right to exist.”
Nepo babies certainly have the right to exist; Jamie, everyone does. But these privileges and advantages are so overwhelming compared to most people on earth; I think the average human wants celebrities to bear the occasional glib article—that doesn’t ask for you not to exist—concede to the benefits you’ve had throughout life and everyone else will move on with their busy lives. Merry Christmas.