Nepotism debate in Hollywood: Lily-Rose Depp, Zoe Kravitz, others say 'nepo baby' label unfair

The spectre of nepotism that has haunted the Hindi film industry has finally arrived in Hollywood. No, it's not that this is new in American cinema, but a new awareness about the phenomenon is here. It all began with a New York magazine article titled 'The Year of the Nepo Baby', which detailed celebrities, including actors, singers, models, socialites, and so on, who have parents or other familial connections in the industry and presumably got their break thanks to those connections. Some of the names in the article are Maya Hawke (daughter of Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke), Robert Downey Jr (son of Robert Downey Sr), Laura Dern (daughter of Bruce Dern), and so on.

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The piece has proved popular (or infamous, depending on your point of view), with many on social media sharing it. A debate, even, has kicked off, though as yet it has not reached the virulent levels it did in India. Some believe that the so-called 'Nepo Kids' have an unfair advantage over the rest as they come into the world with already a connection with the industry. And this obviously helps. Their parents already must have filmmakers and producers as friends.

Others contend that while celeb kids do possess the advantage, the film industry is not unique in that regard. In every field, including businesses and corporates, kids of well-esconced parents have it easy. It's not fair, but it exists. It's just that nepotism in Hollywood (like Bollywood) gets a lot more attention and exposure.

Meanwhile, some star kids (as Indians call them) have responded to the New York magazine piece. 

Also Read: Jamie Lee Curtis weighs in on nepostism debate, calls herself, 'OG Nepo Baby'

Lottie Moss, the half-sister of Kate Moss, admitted she is privileged but she never got any support from Kate. She wrote in an Instagram post, "I understand I have come from a very privileged position being the sister of someone very famous but believe it or not that person never really supported me, my parents were amazing but could not relate to what I was going through and did not know the full extent of what I was going through most of the time."

"I was pretty much on my own so I had to navigate this by myself and do the best I could which I feel I have," she added.

Zoe Kravitz, an actor known for 'The Batman' and 'Fantastic Beasts', is the daughter of singer Lenny Kravitz and actress Lisa Bonet. While speaking to GQ, she said it's "completely normal" for "people to be in the family business. It’s literally where last names came from. You were a blacksmith if your family was, like, the Black family."

Lily-Rose Depp, daughter of Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis said that the nepo baby label “doesn’t make any sense" to her. “It’s weird to me to reduce somebody to the idea that they’re only there because it’s a generational thing," she added.

In India, the nepotism debate was kicked off by Kangana Ranaut, who accused producer Karan Johar of being the flag-bearer of nepotism. And indeed, he has launched the careers of many star kids, including Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan. 

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