Jordan Karlesson
Jamie Lee Curtis, Kate Hudson, and other celebrities are responding to a recent New York Magazine cover story recirculating talk about “nepotism babies.”
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Many of them don’t seem like they have the stomach for another round of discussion about prominent people who got a financial boost thanks to their parents’ success (“nepotism”).
Here’s what some of them said recently about the latest wave of “nepo baby” discussions.
Jamie Lee Curtis Says Nepo Baby Debate Designed to ‘Hurt’
Jamie Lee Curtis, daughter of Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh, wrote on her Instagram account six days ago that she is “an OG Nepo Baby,” having launched her career at age 19.
“There’s not a day in my professional life that goes by without my being reminded that I am the daughter of movie stars,” Curtis wrote. “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.
“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. 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.”
Kate Hudson Weighs in on Nepotism, Says It’s Irrelevant
Kate Hudson, the daughter of actress Goldie Hawn and actor Bill Hudson, is also dismissive of “nepo baby” criticism. She said it “doesn’t matter” what prejudices exist so long as the person works hard.
“The nepotism thing, I mean… I don’t really care,” the Glass Onion actress said in an interview with The Independent published Saturday.
“I look at my kids, and we’re a storytelling family,” Hudson said. “It’s definitely in our blood. People can call it whatever they want, but it’s not going to change it. I actually think there are other industries where it’s [more common]. Maybe modeling? I see it in business way more than I see it in Hollywood.”
Jamie Lee Curtis, Kate Hudson Line Up in Criticism
Later in her interview, Hudson added: “I don’t care where you come from, or what your relationship to the business is – if you work hard and you kill it, [nepotism] doesn’t matter.”
Then again, Curtis shared a similar sentiment in her Instagram remarks.
“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 wrote. “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.”
The New York Magazine cover photo featured Zoë Kravitz, Lily Rose-Depp, Maude Apatow, Maya Hawke, and other high-profile children of celebrities.
