{"id":165577,"date":"2022-12-22T21:57:06","date_gmt":"2022-12-22T21:57:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/why-nepo-babies-are-all-over-the-internet-right-now\/"},"modified":"2022-12-22T21:57:06","modified_gmt":"2022-12-22T21:57:06","slug":"why-nepo-babies-are-all-over-the-internet-right-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/why-nepo-babies-are-all-over-the-internet-right-now\/","title":{"rendered":"Why ‘nepo babies’ are all over the internet right now"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n CNN<\/span>
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One of the surest roads to success in showbiz is to be the child of an already famous and successful person.\n <\/p>\n

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These progeny are called nepo babies (nepo = nepotism), and they have not-so-secretly infiltrated countless beloved pop culture properties. Who was your favorite character on \u201cStranger Things\u201d? Robin, was it? Nepo baby. Your favorite feline anti-hero in \u201cThe Batman\u201d? Yeah, she’s a nepo baby. If you preferred the Riddler in that movie, some news \u2013 his real-life partner is a nepo baby, too.\n <\/p>\n

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That these famous and successful folks were the children or relatives of other famous and successful folks isn’t a surprise: It’s hard to forget who Maya Hawke and Zo\u00eb Kravitz are related to when they look like the spitting image of their famous parents.\n <\/p>\n

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But the term \u201cnepo baby\u201d is a relatively new one, a phrase that’s inspired guilt and anxiety among those it describes. The latest issue of New York magazine highlighted dozens of nepo babies, even putting a few of them back in diapers<\/a> in a star-studded maternity ward for its cover.\n <\/p>\n

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The issue went off like a bomb, shocking readers by laying out famous lineages and even including a surprise nepo baby or two. Some fans defended their idols; others applauded the magazine for its audacity to potentially alienate countless celebrities. A few of those celebs mentioned chimed in.\n <\/p>\n

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Nepo babies lead beloved streaming series and earn awards notice. They’ve starred on Broadway and have fronted major fashion campaigns. Some are widely beloved. Some are Chet Hanks.\n <\/p>\n

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Put simply, per New York’s Nate Jones: \u201cA nepo baby is physical proof that meritocracy is a lie.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

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\u201cNepo baby\u201d refers to the kid of successful adults who’s benefited from nepotism in industries like entertainment or adjacent fields (fashion and media are two of the other big ones). Unlike bootstrappers and naturally talented \u201cnobodies,\u201d nepo babies start off with an advantage \u2013 their parents’ connections \u2013 although many of them later claim their parentage is a burden when it comes to carving out their own names.\n <\/p>\n

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The nepo baby buzz this year kicked off after HBO’s controversial smash \u201cEuphoria\u201d aired its second season. some young viewers were shocked to learn<\/a> that cast member Maude Apatow is the daughter of director Judd Apatow (\u201cKnocked Up,\u201d \u201cThis is 40\u201d) and actress Leslie Mann (also \u201cKnocked Up,\u201d \u201cThis is 40\u201d). \u201cEuphoria\u201d director Sam Levinson is a \u201cnepo-baby\u201d himself \u2013 he’s the last of successful director Barry Levinson, with whom he co-wrote the HBO movie \u201cThe Wizard of Lies\u201d before helming \u201cEuphoria.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

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These connections surprised some young users on TikTok, who launched investigations into other relatively under-the-radar nepo babies. (Many of the most well-known nepo babies peaked in terms of fame before Gen Z was old enough to remember them.) These videos popularized the term \u201cnepo baby.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

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The nepo baby debate reached new heights in November when Lily Rose Depp, daughter of Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis who’s also set to star in a Sam Levinson series, rejected the term in an interview with Elle: \u201cThe internet cares a lot more about who your family is than the people who are casting you in things. Maybe you get your foot in the door, but you still just have your foot in the door. There’s a lot of work that comes after that.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

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Critics pounced, including rising supermodel Vittoria Ceretti, who’s worked for fashion houses like Chanel (and for whom Depp has modeled since her teens). \u201cI have many nepo baby friends whom I respect, but I can’t stand listening to you compare yourself to me,\u201d Ceretti said in an Instagram story. \u201cI was not born on a comfy sexy pillow with a view. I know it’s not your fault, but please, appreciate and know the place you came from.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

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All this inspired New York magazine’s pop culture vertical, Vulture, to launch a year-end series on nepo babies, which included an exhaustive taxonomy of famous kids (and the less-famous kids of \u00fcber-famous parents).\n <\/p>\n

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Vulture’s spread made clear that the universe of nepo babies is vast and potentially endless. There are the young stars: Maya Hawke is the progeny of Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke, and indie darling Riley Keough is Elvis’ granddaughter. There are plenty of long-established nepo babies, too, like Zo\u00eb Kravitz (Lenny Kravitz and Lisa Bonet), Kate Hudson (Goldie Hawn and stepdad Kurt Russell) and Gwyneth Paltrow (Blythe Danner, director Bruce Paltrow).\n <\/p>\n

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A few entries on the list were surprising: Two of the three members of \u201cPlease Don’t Destroy,\u201d NYU alums who create digital shorts for \u201cSaturday Night Live,\u201d are the sons of \u201cSNL\u201d producers. Sisters Rooney and Kate Mara are members of two NFL founding families. And \u201cFantastic Beasts\u201d actress Katherine Waterston is the British-accented daughter of Sam Waterston, recently of \u201cGrace and Frankie.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

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And then there are those who are so talented and\/or established that their nepo-baby reputation doesn’t really matter anymore. Jamie Lee Curtis is the daughter of Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis. Dakota Johnson’s bonafides go back generations: She’s the granddaughter of \u201cThe Birds\u201d icon Tippi Hedren and daughter of \u201cWorking Girl\u201d Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson of \u201cMiami Vice.\u201d And Oscar winner\/gay<\/a> icon Laura Dern is the daughter of two Oscar nominees, Diane Ladd and Bruce Dern.\n <\/p>\n

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Vulture found some interesting nepo baby trends, too: Eight of them appeared in Quentin Tarantinto’s \u201cOnce Upon a Time \u2026 in Hollywood,\u201d according to the outlet. All three of Meryl Streep’s daughters are actresses who’ve appeared on HBO. Several other nepo babies starred in HBO’s \u201cBig Little Lies,\u201d which also featured Alexander Skarsg\u00e5rd of the Skarsg\u00e5rds. (HBO, which shares parent company Warner Bros. Discovery with CNN, is apparently a major employer of nepo babies.)\n <\/p>\n

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Reliably, the \u201cstans\u201d of the stars Vulture highlighted came out to support their idols, defending them for leveraging their fame and criticizing the magazine for pointing out their Google-able family history. (Note: \u201cStan\u201d is another term for \u201cdiehard fan\u201d popularized by Eminem, whose daughter Hailie is also included in Vulture’s list; she hosts a podcast.)\n <\/p>\n

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Eve Hewson, an actress (\u201cBad Sisters,\u201d \u201cThe Knick\u201d) and Bono’s daughter, tweeted<\/a> derisively several times about the article. \u201c2023 Goals: be successful enough to get recognized as a nepo baby,\u201d she wrote before she realized she’d been mentioned in an infographic.\n <\/p>\n

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Andean then<\/a>: \u201cOmg please can all the Nepo babies unite and dress up as giant babies for Halloween.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

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The article reminded some of some of the mentioned nepo babies’ responses when asked about their privilege. Maya Hawke told Rolling Stone earlier this year that when it comes to the \u201cnepotism thing,\u201d she recognized that her lineage \u201cdefinitely gives you massive advantages in this life\u201d and while \u201cyou will get chances for free \u2026 the chances will not be infinite \u201d Maude Apatow, meanwhile, said the label made her \u201csad\u201d but that she tries not to \u201clet it get to (her) because (she) obviously understand(s) that (she’s) in such a lucky position.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Some critics pointed out<\/a> that a few of the inclusions in Vulture’s compilation were a stretch<\/a>: Phoebe Bridgers, for example, was included among \u201cindustry babies\u201d as the \u201cdaughter of a set builder\u201d next to young Oscar nominee Lucas Hedges, whose dad is a director and whose grandpa was an executive at HBO. to some<\/a> of Bridgers’ fans<\/a>it seemed incongruous to compare the two stars’ industry connections.\n <\/p>\n

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Most of Vulture’s nepo babies have not responded chosen to the spread or the brouhaha it raised. After all, many of them are so famous that they’re able to avoid engaging in trends like these altogether.\n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n