Jamie Lee Curtis says “nepo babies” discourse is “designed to diminish and denigrate and hurt”
Jamie Lee Curtis has given her opinion on the current conversation surrounding “nepo babies” in the entertainment world.
The dialogue around nepotism erupted after a Vulture article titled ‘The Nepotism Babies of Hollywood’ was published, which got the Internet thinking about just how many high profile figures in the entertainment world have famous parents, and whether that gave them an unfair leg-up in the industry.
Now, Jamie Lee Curtis has shared her thoughts on the matter. She commented on the discourse in a lengthy Instagram post, acknowledging herself as an “OG nepo baby” as both of her parents, Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh, were actors themselves.
“I have been a professional actress since I was 19 years old so that makes me an OG Nepo Baby,” she wrote. “I’ve never understood, nor will I, what qualities got me hired that day, but since my first two lines on Quincy as a contract player at Universal Studios to this last spectacular creative year some 44 years later, there’s not a day in my professional life that goes by without my being reminded that I am the daughter of movie stars.
“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. 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.
“So, in these difficult days of so much rage in the world can we just try to find that quiet voice that the brilliant movie, Everything Everywhere All At Once reminds us and as my friend [Rob Reynolds] reminds us,
NOTE TO SELF:
BE KIND,
BE KIND;
BE KIND:”
Several other figures from the entertainment world have shared their own opinions. Lily Allen, whose father is actor Keith Allen, said in a series of tweets that she “literally deserve[s] nothing” because of where she came from, and that professionals in other industries – such as law or politics – who have benefitted from nepotism are a more significant problem.
Even before the Vulture article, celebrities were talking about nepotism. Last month, Noel Gallagher’s daughter Anaïs, who works as a photographer and has a modelling background, said it would be “tone deaf and irresponsible” if she didn’t admit the “leg up” in life that her upbringing had given her.
Meanwhile, Zoe Kravitz, the daughter of Lenny, defended the label, telling GQ that “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.”
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Emma Wilkes
NME
