“Nepo babies” is the term that has been taking over this generation’s celebrity industry. A term that has become one of much controversy during these past few years.
Yet the question still remains…what exactly is a nepo (short for nepotism) baby? Does this consist of anyone who is related to someone in the industry, including babies or teenagers, such as North West, daughter of Kim Kardasion and Kanye West? Or just those who have chosen to become part of the same industry as their parents such as Maya Hawke, the daughter of Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman?
Traditional nepo babies have always been around, from Jennifer Aniston to Miley Cyrus, yet until the year 2022 nobody seemed to care too much about nepo babies, or if they did it was as a topic of gossip with friends. However, everything changed once New York Magazine made it the cover of their December Edition. Making a bold statement with the cover title that 2022 was “The Year of the Nepo Baby”, they opened the door to a conversation that had been looming over the heads of the industry for a while.
This caused mixed reactions throughout the industry, with many nepo babies responding in anger, such as Lily Allen who tweeted:
“The nepo babies y’all should be worrying about are the ones working for legal firms,the ones working for banks, and the ones working in politics, If we’re talking about real world consequences and robbing people of opportunity.”
To an extent she did have a point. After all, those are the people who will make or break our lives in a tangible way. Lily Allen made a point that many hadn’t considered, that nepotism and Nepo babies surround us in our everyday lives, they are just more exposed in the industry.
When asking Sheffield students about nepo babies, mixed opinions were given: Sejal Mistry, a 19 year old Biomedical student, said that a nepo baby “could be considered anyone who can get ahead” and have an advantage due to their parents, no matter their age or the industry their parents are a part of.
Lucy Lee, a 19 year old Mechanical Engineering student had a different perspective. When asked what she thought about nepo babies and whether it could be considered unjust, she said: “Hate the system, not the people.”
Gracie Abrams is probably one of the most controversial and prominent examples of this. Daughter of JJ Abrams, director of movies such as Jurassic Park, Star Wars, Star Trek, etc. The controversy behind her fame and nepotism comes from the question of whether she could be considered a nepo baby considering her father is in a different branch of the industry.
The response lies in her history, as many have noticed how much of her music even before her rise to fame was produced and co-written by some of the biggest in the industry. An example of this is her song “21”, which was produced by Sarah Aarons and Joel Little: two of the most famous producers who have worked alongside artists such as Taylor Swift, Khalid, etc.
Would she have risen up the charts as fast as she did if it weren’t for the contacts provided for her, most likely by her father, or would it have taken longer, like it did for Sabrina Carpenter, who spent 10 years in the industry waiting for her big break? The truth is we will never know. At the end of the day, this shows us that there is one key ingredient in the recipe for success: contacts. So can you blame someone for using them if they have the opportunity to?
Raising the question of whether we are the ones creating the system that allows nepo babies to rise to fame quicker then they otherwise would. And whether you would do the same thing if you were in their position? Because if we were being truthful most would, as I realised when I was talking to students. Ultimately, that is what nepo babies are doing, grabbing the opportunities that they have, even if those have at times been handed to them
Image credit: Unsplash
