Nepo Babies: Talented or Just Privileged?
- Kamari Crews
- 2 hours ago
- 7 min read
Hello friends, welcome back to My Notes App!! Recently, Spotify has been pushing a very strong Malcolm Todd agenda, which I have to admit that I am not totally hating. Listening to more of his music and trying to decipher whether or not I actually like him as a musician (I decided that I do) has really had me pondering the infamous topic of nepo babies. Let's discuss.
For those who are unaware, nepo babies, or nepotism babies, are celebrities whose success is mostly or entirely attributed to having a familial relationship with someone in the entertainment industry. Popular nepo babies include Paris Hilton (daughter of Kathy and Richard Hilton), Kate Hudson (daughter of Goldie Hawn), Jamie Lee Curtis (daughter of Janet Leigh), Maya Hawke (daughter of Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke), and Lily Rose Depp (daughter of Johnny Depp).
Common discourse surrounding nepo babies is whether or not they are actually talented. Are these celebrities deserving of their fame, or did they just have an unfair advantage to kickstart their careers? After extensive research, I have come to my final decision on the topic….
Overrated Nepo Babies
I believe that the following nepo babies are NOT deserving of their fame:
Hailey Baldwin/Bieber – As the daughter of Stephen Baldwin, Hailey used her nepotism to begin her career in modeling, before marrying Justin Bieber and launching Rhode Beauty, a clean-girl skincare and makeup brand. To be honest, I find nothing intriguing about Hailey. Her brand, both literal and personal, is very bland and unentertaining. I’m bored……
Dakota Johnson – I absolutely eat her up as a person, but I am not the biggest fan of her as an actress. While I haven't seen any films starring her mother, Melanie Griffith, I know that she has a huge legacy to live up to. However, every film of hers that I’ve seen consists of her playing the same bland characters, or at least portraying them all the exact same way. I am begging someone to cast her in a comedy, though, because she has slay potential. Love you girl, please host SNL soon.
Kaia Gerber – As the daughter of Cindy Crawford, Kaia began her career as a model and branched off into acting to “try something new”. While I didn’t hate her character in Bottoms (2023), I am getting quite sick of seeing the same character blueprint in every project she stars in. I honestly can’t gauge her talents as an actress because she has yet to display any range. Sorry 😬.
Odessa A’Zion – I have tried so many times to get into Odessa as an actress, and I struggle every time because I find both her acting style and the projects she takes on to be very boring. Additionally, Odessa is facing backlash online for accepting a role meant to be portrayed by a Latina woman. She has since stepped down, claiming she did not know this prior to accepting this role, but this film has a book associated with it, so Odessa accepting the role in the first place honestly displays the lack of effort that went into researching it. It feels like a clear example of using nepotism to get a job and not actually caring about your craft.
Gracie Abrams – In all honesty, I do not think that Gracie Abrams is that bad of a musician. However, I do think she got a massive leg up when it came to her music career. As the daughter of filmmaker J.J. Abrams, Gracie Abrams was signed by Interscope Records at the very beginning of her music journey and her first album was majorly produced by Aaron Dessner, which is insane for a debut artist/album. Her music is not bad, but she certainly would not be as successful as she is today without the privileges included with her last name.
Basically, everyone is just boring, like yes, give us nothing!!!
As you can see, Dakota Johnson is NOT in Nepo Baby jail. She has actually been released on parole. Tread lightly, Dakota......
Underrated Nepo Babies
I believe the following Nepo Babies deserve the hype:
Zoë Kravitz
As the daughter of Lisa Bonet and Lenny Kravitz, I think that Zoë Kravitz had the most potential for failure, but turned out to become a quadruple threat, with her working as an actress, singer, model, and activist. Zoe began acting as a high school student in Manhattan, which would have been much more difficult without the status and support of her parents. Still, Zoë has proved time and again that she is deserving of her career. After being cast in roles like Catwoman in The Batman (2022) and Bonnie in Big Little Lies (2017–2019), she proved her talents in both TV and movie acting. She has also become well known for her chic and "effortless" style of clothing (this vogue article highlights some of her best looks). Basically she eats up everything she does and is probably the coolest celebrity ever.
Audrey Hobert
In a similar vein to Malcolm Todd (whose full name is Malcolm Todd HOBERT, fun fact), it took me a bit to decide whether or not I was actually a fan of her music. As the daughter of Tim Hobert (known for his work on The Middle (2009–2018) and Scrubs (2001)), Audrey basically grew up in the entertainment industry. She has been close friends with Gracie Abrams, another popular nepo baby, since fifth grade, which played a huge role in the launch of her career. Audrey is credited as a songwriter on many of Gracie’s tracks, including “That’s So True,” which currently has over 1.6 BILLION streams on Spotify. Additionally, Audrey would often perform live with Gracie and gained a bit of traction simply due to how close their relationship was. In early 2025, Audrey received a lot of criticism for her live stage presence, with many people complimenting her vocals but labeling her as “awkward” on stage (even though that’s like her whole bit…). I was on the fence about her until I listened to her songs, “Sue me” and “Bowling alley,” which are two of the most instantly catchy songs I’ve ever heard. The more I listen to Audrey Hobert, the more evident it becomes to me that she is deserving of her fame. While she does have an incredible advantage, she still puts in a lot of time and effort when it comes to songwriting and performing, which sets her apart from some of her other nepo baby friends.......
Jack Quaid
Prior to researching this, I knew Jack Quaid was the son of Denis Quaid, but I was pleased to find out that his mother is none other than Meg Ryan. While the only Jack Quaid film I have seen is Companion (2025), I can easily say that he lives up to his family name. Like all nepo babies, Jack Quaid attended NYU Tisch for three years, before dropping out to accept the role as Marvel in The Hunger Games (2012). From there, his career took off, with him going on to star in blockbusters like Scream (2022). Oppenheimer (2023), and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023). Honestly, I don't know much about him as a person, but I am growing to appreciate him as an actor and I am excited to see what he does next, I guess.
Riley Keough
As the daughter of Lisa Marie Presley and granddaughter of Elvis Presley, Riley Keough has a huge legacy to live up to, and I personally think she is very deserving of her family name. While she has starred in major works such as Daisy Jones & The Six (2023) and Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), I associate her most with The Devil All The Time (2020), one of my favorite movies ever. Despite coming from a family of renowned musicians, Riley Keough had never sung prior to Daisy Jones & The Six, her most well-known project, and trained for over a year and a half for the role. This is just one example of her dedication, which shines through her acting. She eats every. Single. Time.
Bill Skarsgård
As one of the many famous children of Stellan Skarsgård (there are literally four of them), Bill Skarsgård is definitely my favorite. He is most well known for his role as Pennywise in It (2017) and It Chapter Two (2019), as well as his role as Nosferatu in Nosferatu (2024). For Nosferatu alone, he wore a 62-piece prosthetic suit and sat through 6 HOURS of makeup application. He described the prosthetics as sticky, hot, and itchy, and was not a huge fan of them for the majority of the filming process, yet he still managed to deliver an award winning performance. I personally enjoyed his performance in Barbarian (2022), and in The Devil All The Time (I need EVERYONE to watch this movie), where he plays two entirely new and different characters. Honestly, Bill Skarsgård remains one of the only actors who is able to completely transform himself for every single role, which instantly solidifies his talent for me. 10/10, no notes.
Celebrities I Didn’t Know Were Nepo Babies
When researching for this blog, I came across a bunch of big names that I never knew were nepo babies. In case you were wondering, the list below contains the most shocking to me:
Tracee Ellis Ross - Daughter of Diana Ross
Lily Collins - Daughter of Phil collins
Emma Roberts - daughter of Eric Roberts and niece of Julia Roberts (this one isn't very surprising, she kind of gives off nepo baby)
Laura Dern - Daughter of Bruce Dern
Elle King - Daughter of Rob Schneider (this one actually gagged me)
I must say, I have no personal hate for most of these people. However, I think it’s important to acknowledge the unfair advantage many famous stars hold when so many other entertainers had to work their whole lives to achieve their success. Many of these celebrities acknowledge the privilege awarded to them by their connections, but some actively ignore it, which honestly makes them more unlikable. Like, we all know that you have nepotism, why are you pretending you don't?? Not all nepo babies are talentless, but PLEASE stop trying pushing the Odessa agenda. That's all!
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