“Nepotism” in Hollywood: the daughters and sons of famous stars react to the controversy about their “privileges”

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In Hollywood, the daughters and sons of the stars, the “nepo babies” as they are called there, are regularly the target of ridicule. But the criticism intensified this December, after New York Magazine and Vulture published a “guide to the Nepo verse,” with the provocative headline “She Has Her Mother’s Eyes” on the cover. And his agent.

The target of much criticism for what is seen by some as a lack of legitimacy in the world of showbiz, the children of stars who have become celebrities themselves are currently at the center of a controversy that continues to swell.

In recent months, these young celebrities who have embraced a career similar to that of their parents have really made waves across the Atlantic. Nicknamed “children of nepotism”, or “children of nepotism”, they ignite fierce debates about their privileges and “other privileges”. “She has her mother’s eyes. She also has her agent,” New York Magazine said on the front page of its December edition, going so far as to offer “a (very) deep analysis” of the phenomenon (which, let’s remember, is not young since Laura Dern, George Clooney, Gwyneth Paltrow, Owen Wilson Ben Stiller and many others all had famous parents).

And the New York Times cites some of the new stars of the moment, in particular actress Maude Apatow, daughter of actors Judd Apatow and Leslie Mann, actress Maya Hawke, who is in the cast of the series “Stranger Things” and whose parents are nobody other than Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman, Billie Lourd, daughter of the late Carrie Fisher and granddaughter of the icon Debbie Reynolds, or Zoë Kravitz, daughter of singer Lenny Kravitz and actress and director Lisa Bonet.

“In 2022, the Internet uncovered a vast conspiracy,” writes New York Magazine, which had fun making diagrams to trace the illustrious lineages of “actors, rock stars, models, directors, producers, influencers, writers and internal. be children of actors, rock stars, models, directors, producers, influencers, writers and insiders”.

In November, French-American actress and model Lily-Rose Depp, daughter of Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis, criticized the use of the word “nepotism” in an interview with Elle. “Nothing will get you a role except the fact that you are good for this role”, declared the young woman before starting a comparison: “If a doctor’s child also becomes a doctor, you will not say to yourself: Oh, he is a doctor because his parents are”.

Lottie Moss, sister of 1990s star model Kate Moss, recently deleted her Twitter account after receiving a barrage of criticism for her defense of ‘nepo babies’. “I’m really sick of people blaming nepotism for the reason they’re not rich and famous or successful – obviously it’s not fair that people who come from famous families get a head start because of that, but with guess what? Life isn’t fair – focus on something you can do.”

Another personality who has reacted to the controversy, Lily Allen, British actress but very popular Hollywood (and who knows the subject well as she herself is the daughter of Welsh actor Keith Allen and English producer Alison Owen) also advocated “sons and daughters of”. “The kids you should all be worried about are the ones who work for law firms, the ones who work for banks and the ones who work in politics, if we’re talking about the real-world consequences and denying people opportunities. BUT it’s not my job”, the singer wrote on Twitter.

“In childhood, we want stability and love, for education, we still don’t care about money or proximity to power. “Many nepo babies are deprived of these basic things in childhood because their parents are probably narcissistic,” she added. “And the entertainment business is not suitable for parents, for example. Tours, shootings last for months. It can be hard to see your privilege when you’re still dealing with childhood trauma, and a lot of those kids haven’t figured that out yet,” the “Fuck You” singer said.

For Lily Collins, daughter of singer Phil Collins and star of “Emily in Paris,” her name, she says, hasn’t opened any doors. The actress explained that she had chosen a career in front of the camera precisely so as not to follow in her father’s footsteps: “I like to sing. But since I wanted to do things my way, away from my father’s genius, I preferred to be an actress.

However, some celebrities do not hesitate to recognize a privilege because of their name, following the example of Jamie Lee Curtis (daughter of Janet Leigh, star of Psychosis by Alfred Hitchcock and Tony Curtis), who in an interview given to New Yorker in 2019, admitted that she benefited from an incentive to integrate the “Halloween” saga: “It was played between me and another actress, she explained. If you have to choose between two people, choose the one whose mother played in Psycho (…).I had a clear incentive,” she admitted.

It should be noted that the phenomenon does not only affect Hollywood. In France, Lou Doillon, Charlotte Gainsbourg or Léa Seydoux have become superstars and sometimes make people shudder. In 2016, the latter, who is none other than the granddaughter of the president of the film production company Pathé, but also the granddaughter of the chairman of the supervisory board of Gaumont, had caused a lot of comments by stating in an interview that Madame Figaro has been “in the school of life”.

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