Lily Allen on the “nepo babies” you should really be worrying about

21 December, 2022

Lily Allen

Lily Allen has entered the discourse around “nepo babies,” highlighting those people “should be worrying about”.

In recent days, conversation has been raging online after an article discussing ‘The Nepotism Babies Of Hollywood’, with many calling out the amount of successful people in the music and entertainment industry with famous parents.

The singer and daughter of actor Keith Allen has become the latest to wade into the discussion, saying in a series of tweets that she literally deserve[s] nothing” because of where she came from, and that professionals in other industries who have benefitted from nepotism are the real problem.

“The nepo babies y’all should be worrying about are the ones working for legal firms, the ones working for banks, and the ones working in politics,” she tweeted this week.

“If we’re talking about real world consequences and robbing people of opportunity. BUT that’s none of my business.”

Allen added: “In childhood we crave stability and love, nurturing, we don’t care about money or proximity to power yet. Many of the nepo babies are starved of these basic things in childhood as their parents are probably narcissistic.

“And before you come at me for being a nepo baby myself, I will be the first to tell you that I literally deserve nothing.”

After being criticised for her comments, Allen then clarified in a further set of tweets. “Look, I seem to have riled people up with my comments about nepo babies,” she wrote.

“I am nearly 40 years of age and am more than happy, in fact I think it’s important to disclose what a privileged upbringing I’ve had and how that has created so many opportunities for me.

“I mention my age because I haven’t always been able to have that conversation, in my twenties I felt very defensive about it, I felt like I worked extremely hard and that I deserved the success that I had, that people connected to my songs and that the songs came from me, I also had quite a fraught relationship with some of my family members so it felt difficult for me to attribute my successes to them, at the time.”

Allen went on: “But we all know it’s more complicated than that. It is quite clear that there is a severe lack of representation in the industry where class and race are concerned. Everyone loses as a result.”

Further tweets then added: “I do feel that nepo babies are being somewhat scapegoated here though, there is a wider, societal conversation to be had about wealth inequality, about lack of programs and funding, and I guess that was the point I was trying to make, maybe badly.

“I promise you I’m not rooting for an industry full of people that had childhoods that looked like mine. I just really think that we can’t get to a real solution without identifying the real problem, as fun as it is to laugh at the kids of famous people. Nepo babies have feelings.”

Last month, Anaïs Gallagher and Zoë Kravitz responded to criticism of them being labelled “nepotism babies”.

Gallagher, who is the daughter of Noel Gallagher and Meg Mathews, is a photographer and has worked as a model in the past. Speaking to the Daily Mail, Anaïs said it would be “tone deaf and irresponsible” if she didn’t admit the “leg up” in life her upbringing had given her.

“There is justification around the hiring of nepotism babies,” she said. “I think it’s not justified as an attack on somebody personally, and whether they themselves are a hard worker, because you don’t truly ever know anyone. I actually don’t think it’s kind to pass judgement on anyone you don’t know and to be mean about them.”

Kravitz, who like her father Lenny Kravitz is a musician, is also an actor like her mother Lisa Bonet, and has starred in the recent The Batman movie and the High Fidelity television series.

Despite admitting a “deep insecurity” about her success as an actor being viewed as less because of her parents, she defended being a “nepo baby”.

Lily Rose-Depp, meanwhile, said that the “nepotism baby” label she’s faced over her career is sexist, and usually used against famous women over famous men.

The post Lily Allen on the “nepo babies” you should really be worrying about appeared first on NME.