“No one rips on a child who’s like, ‘I need to be a health care provider like my dad and granddad,’” Paltrow mentioned. “The reality is in case you develop up in a home with lots of artists and other people making artwork and music, that’s what , the identical means that in case you develop up in a home with regulation, the discussions across the desk are in regards to the nuances of no matter specific regulation the mother and father follow.”
Whereas true, most individuals don’t develop up with mother and father like Bruce Paltrow, the producer of the 1982 tv present “St. Elsewhere” and Emmy Award-winning actress Blythe Danner, who starred within the “Meet the Mother and father” trilogy.
As a mom of two kids, Paltrow mentioned she needs her kids to pursue their supreme careers, too, no matter what their mother and father do for a residing.
“I simply hope that my kids all the time be at liberty to pursue precisely what they need to do, no matter what anyone’s going to assume or say,” she mentioned.
Paltrow joins an extended line of celebrities defending themselves from being referred to as a “nepo child.” The phrase — quick for “nepotism child” and interchangeable with “privileged” for some — sprung into the popular culture ether at first by way of TikTok and social media, the place individuals pointed to how well-connected some actors, actresses and entertainers are, like how Hailey Bieber is the daughter of Stephen Baldwin and niece of Alec Baldwin, or how Lily Collins is the daughter of musician Phil Collins.
In fact, some celebrities have pushed again towards it, saying their onerous work, not their household ties, helped them rise to the highest.
Take, as an example, Lily-Rose Depp, the star of HBO’s “The Idol.” Depp’s mother and father are French singer, mannequin and actress Vanessa Paradis and actor Johnny Depp.
“Perhaps you get your foot within the door, however you continue to simply have your foot within the door,” she instructed Elle. “There’s lots of work that comes after that.”
For Depp, stepping by way of the door started in 2015 when she grew to become the face of a Chanel eyewear campaign at age 16. Her mom headlined a Chanel marketing campaign back in the 1990s.
Depp mentioned it’s widespread for kids to need to observe of their mother and father’ footsteps for his or her profession. She instructed W Magazine that having household connections inside the trade brings its personal set of challenges.
“Actually, to me there’s additionally one thing even a bit bit tougher about it,” she mentioned, “as a result of the expectations are so insanely excessive.”
However whereas Depp is fearful about expectations and the way she’s perceived, different celebrities simply don’t … care? Like Kate Hudson, an actress whose mother and father included Goldie Hawn and singer Invoice Hudson, vocalist of the Hudson Brothers band.
“The nepotism factor, I imply … I don’t actually care,” Hudson mentioned in an interview with the Independent in December. “I have a look at my youngsters and we’re a storytelling household. It’s undoubtedly in our blood. Folks can name it no matter they need, nevertheless it’s not going to alter it.”
Drew Barrymore acknowledged the “nepo child” controversy in January on her discuss present, “The Drew Barrymore Present,” saying she had some household ties which may have helped her, like how her father was well-known actor John Drew Barrymore and her mom was Jaid Barrymore, an actress and author.
“If you happen to got here from a household of legal professionals, and somebody mentioned, ‘Oh, nicely, her dad runs the agency.’ It’s like, nicely, she nonetheless took the bar and bought right here of her personal volition, so so long as we’re not catty about it and celebratory of it, that’s the tone I need,” she mentioned.
Maude Apatow, daughter of director Judd Apatow and actress Leslie Mann, instructed trend web site Net-a-Porter in September 2022 that the time period made her really feel “unhappy” at first, however “I clearly perceive that I’m in such a fortunate place. Lots of people [in a similar position] have confirmed themselves through the years, so I’ve bought to maintain going and make good work.”
Ethan Hawke, father of actress Maya Hawke, instructed Variety in September of this 12 months that he has totally embraced the concept, calling himself a “nepo dad” and that he’s “not embarrassed” to confess it.
“If somebody needs to criticize us for working collectively, that’s completely honest,” Ethan Hawke mentioned. “It’s important to let individuals have their opinion. You simply need to attempt to do a very good job if you’re onstage.”
Equally, Zoë Kravitz, daughter of musician Lenny Kravitz and actress Lisa Bonet, instructed GQ in November that it’s “utterly regular for individuals to be within the household enterprise.”
In the meantime, Jamie Lee Curtis, daughter of actors Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis, wrote in an Instagram post in December that the time period unfairly diminished the work celebrities have completed on their very own. She mentioned the time period “is simply designed to attempt to diminish and denigrate and harm.”
And Willow Smith, daughter of Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, instructed Rolling Stone in November that “nepo child” or not, she merely doesn’t care.
“If you happen to love me, superb. If you happen to hate me, implausible. That’s none of my enterprise.”