The Rise Of The Nepo Baby

Currently, the internet has chosen it’s new victim. Nepo babies. You can’t go anywhere without hearing someone whisper the term, or use it to define some of the top celebrities. The term has been popularized across social media, such as Twitter, Instagram, and Tiktok, and continues to spread in current media culture.

A nepo baby is what people are calling the successful child of a celebrity, accused of riding on their parents fame to get their own success. The word “Nepo” is short for nepotism, which means giving unfair advantages to your own family if you are in a power position.

The first instance of this being used was from Merien Derradji about Euphoria, when her tweet calling the actress Maude Apatow, who plays Lexi, a nepotism baby. Derradji brings up the fact that Apatow’s parents are both famous, with her mom being Leslie Mann, and her dad being a movie director, or Judd Apatow, who has made successful movies in the past.

People have been interested in the lives of celebrities, and their children for decades. Even the children who do not follow in a similar career in production are still quite well known across generations. It’s the children that have followed these steps that are beginning to catch the attention of other people.

Some Nepo babies are being constantly thrown under the bus for having celebrity parents, while others are being ignored completely. It is all relative to how they have made their success, and in what generation. If they started out young, it is taken as more respectable. Actors that have debuted recently, or have starred in the new large productions in the past ten years have been the most common targets of the online harassment surrounding their role.

Who are these Nepo Babies?

As the internet likes to say, “who isn’t?”. It’s not unknown that success in the film and music industry often comes from people whose parents are either involved in that industry, or have a lot of money. There are many stars who do come from humble backgrounds, but a big part of success is having that upper hand.

A very successful, and well known example includes Miley Cyrus, daughter of the country singer Billy Ray Cyrus. Miley is well known from the Disney show, Hannah Montana, whichaired on March 24th, 2006, and continued until July 11th, 2010. Miley Cyrus played a girl named Miley, who was also a hit singer named Hannah Montana. Billy Ray Cyrus was also on the show, and played Miley’s dad, a character named Robby Stewart. Even on the show, Miley was a nepo baby as Robby Stewart was supposed to be a famous retired singer, who is noticed in the 42nd episode by the Jonas Brothers.

Other very famous examples include Kate Hudon and Dakota Johnson. Some are even more famous than their parents, such as George Clooney, Drew Barrymore, Gwyneth Paltrow, Mia Farrow. Some nepo babies might come from parents behind the scenes, such as Phoebe Bridgers, Billie Eilish, and Jake Gyllenhal.

“I really do feel that once your foot is in the door — which you unfairly got in — then you have to work almost twice as hard and be twice as good. Because people are ready to pull you down and say you don’t belong there,” Gwenyth Paltrow told Hayley Bieber in Bieber’s youtube series Who’s in My Bathroom?

Why do we care?

While their parents may open the doors, nepo babies still have to audition, and still have to land the role. While they may be considered a little more than the typical actor, directors are not going to cast someone they believe is untalented for a role.

People have made the same argument for wealthy or legacy students getting into college easier, forgetting that these students still have to apply to college, take the same tests, and get in. Just because a person gets a leg up doesn’t mean that they haven’t also put in the work, or put in effort to get to where they are today.

There is a common practice that has risen in popularity lately which focuses on blame. People who have no problem with cheating on tests, or copying homework answers are the same people who have a problem with the integrity of nepo babies.

Nepo baby culture is taking a very toxic turn. People are taking the insults too far, and hating on people they don’t even know. By the way Nepotism culture is going, it is likely to turn just as toxic as cancel culture has been, and other movements in the past by putting people down.

There is no point in nepo baby culture. The internet’s obsession over these people is just another example of mean girl syndrome, which social media is plagued by. Nepo baby obsession is likely to pass in the next month or two, and will probably be replaced by another toxic obsession by the internet for people to indulge in.