Their honesty is refreshing…<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”credit-name” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”Black Han Sans|||on|||||” text_text_color=”#000000″ header_4_font=”|||on|||||” header_4_text_align=”center” text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”||0px||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]
Words by Isobel Lewis<\/strong><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/06\/Nepo-Babies.jpg” alt=”Nepo baby celebrities” title_text=”Nepo Babies” force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″] Right now, our obsession \u2013 and frustration \u2013 with so-called nepo babies couldn\u2019t be stronger. For decades, people have noted that many famous actors have famous actor parents, or come from families who have worked in the creative industries. But with these fields becoming more and more impenetrable to the rest of us normies, a public fixation on the kids of famous people (or \u201cnepo babies\u201d) has only grown. TikTok users will list names of stars you might not know have famous parents, to the point where the moment a new actor and musician arrives on the scene, people question whether they\u2019re nepo babies \u2013 or as many joke, whether their parents\u2019 names are blue on Wikipedia.<\/p>\n Nobody is really saying that nepo babies shouldn\u2019t have careers in the creative industries at all; more that it\u2019d be good to hear them acknowledge that they got to their position of success through more than just hard graft. Yet the discussion often prompts a defensiveness from the stars, either saying that people are trying to \u201cpull you down\u201d (Gwyneth Paltrow) or joking that \u201cnepo babies have feelings\u201d (Lily Allen). Understandably, this only annoys their critics further.<\/p>\n But there are some stars who have been commendably honest about the leg up their family connections gave them. They\u2019ve acknowledged that coming from a famous family helped them, and that that doesn\u2019t mean they didn\u2019t work hard, but had significant help when it came to getting their foot in the door. Here are seven celebs who have spoken openly about their privilege…<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″] Girls star Alison Williams is the daughter of former NBC news anchor Brian Williams, and was praised when she spoke frankly about the benefits nepotism had had on her career. \u201cAll that people are looking for is an acknowledgment that it\u2019s not a level playing field,\u201d she told Vulture in 2023. \u201cIt\u2019s just unfair. Period, end of the story, and no one\u2019s really working that hard to make it fair. To not acknowledge that me getting started as an actress versus someone with zero connections isn\u2019t the same \u2013 it\u2019s ludicrous. It doesn\u2019t take anything away from the work that I\u2019ve done. It just means that it\u2019s not as fun to root for me.\u201d<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″] The daughter of famed director Ron Howard, actress Bryce Dallas Howard recently spoke about the privilege of being a \u201cthird-generation actor and director\u201d. \u201cMy dad was incredibly privileged to be raised in a household with parents who worked in the industry,\u201d she said, while appearing on the Happy Sad Confused podcast. \u201cI, in turn, have been enormously privileged to be raised in a home where my dad is doing the work that he’s doing. My mom is also a novelist and is absolutely incredible. And so, it’s a joy to get to do the stuff that we do, but also it’s a very rare thing. It’s very fun, but I just want to acknowledge for a moment that this is a very unique way to be raised and I’ve been very, very lucky.\u201d<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″] With two ultra-starry parents in Meg Ryan and Dennis Quaid, Jack Quaid is another actor to have embraced the label. \u201cNo matter what I do, people are going to call attention to it,\u201d he told The Daily Beast. \u201cPeople have called me a \u2018nepo baby.\u2019 I\u2019m inclined to agree. I am an immensely privileged person, was able to get representation pretty early on, and that\u2019s more than half the battle.\u201d<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″] Bella Mackie has been open about the privilege surrounding her on all sides; not only is she married to Greg James, but her father is former Guardian editor-in-chief Alan Rusbridger. Appearing on Annie MacManus\u2019s Changes podcast, Bella humorously jokingly referred to herself as a \u201cgeriatric nepo baby\u201d, explaining: \u201cI went to work at the company that my dad worked for and ran and he didn’t give me the job, but someone else gave me the job, and I only knew her because of him. Now I look back and I think, god, that’s shameful, and I should not have taken that job.\u201d She then described how her first book received public attention due to her dating radio presenter Greg, adding that her bestseller How To Kill Your Family was rejected by three companies apart from one interested in her due to her following. \u201cThen that book did really well, I think partly again because Greg has a platform, which meant I had a platform,\u201d she said. \u201cSo off the back of that, I then get to write another one. When someone says, how did you do that? I’m like, \u2018Well, the answer isn’t fair.\u201d<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″] Not only has Mel B\u2019s daughter Phoenix Brown acknowledged her own privilege, she\u2019s called on other nepo babies to do it. \u201cI\u2019m working towards being a successful DJ and presenter \u2013 and I can\u2019t deny that having Mel B as my mum has opened a few doors,\u201d she told the Radio Times. \u201cNepo babies must acknowledge that we\u2019re handed opportunities faster than most people. As my mum says in the documentary, she came from a working-class background and had no one to open doors for her. I wouldn\u2019t have the life that I have if it wasn\u2019t for the hard work that she put into her own career. To not respect that would be silly.\u201d<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″] The daughter of Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke previously admitted that she got her role in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood due to her family connections. \u201cI\u2019ve been wildly made fun of for this clip when I said, on the red carpet, that I auditioned. I never meant to imply that I didn\u2019t get the part for nepotistic reasons \u2013 I think I totally did,\u201d the Stranger Things star told The Times in 2024. \u201cIt\u2019s OK to be made fun of when you\u2019re in rarefied air,\u201d she explained. \u201cIt\u2019s a lucky place to be. My relationships with my parents are really honest and positive, and that supersedes anything anyone can say about it.\u201d<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″] Actress Nico Parker is the daughter of fellow actress Thandiwe Newton and director Ol Parker (the mastermind behind Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again), and has spoken about the importance of acknowledging what her famous parents have done for her, even unknowingly. \u201cI never want to discredit myself and what I\u2019ve done, but I also want to give full credit to my parents. They\u2019ve both had brilliant careers and I am really fortunate because I get to reap the benefits,\u201d she told The Sunday Times Style. \u201cEspecially very early in my career, I think you walk into rooms in a different way because people know who your parents are. You do need to acknowledge it, if you don\u2019t, where does that leave you? I totally get why it\u2019s annoying.\u201d<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider color=”#111111″ divider_position=”center” divider_weight=”2px” module_class=”custom-divider” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”0px||0px||false|false” custom_padding=”0px||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text module_class=”credit-texts” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|||on|||||” text_orientation=”center” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”] Photo: <\/b>Getty<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Their honesty is refreshing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":11440,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fashion"],"acf":[],"modified_by":"guestgrazia","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11431","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11431"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11431\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11446,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11431\/revisions\/11446"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/grazia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Alison Williams<\/h2>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2221980709.jpg” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” alt=”Alison Williams and Brian Williams with mother” title_text=”%22M3GAN 2.0%22 New York City Premiere” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]
Bryce Dallas Howard<\/h2>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2157508846-scaled.jpg” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” alt=”Bryce Dallas Howard and Ron Howard” title_text=”2024 Paley Honors” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]
Jack Quaid<\/h2>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-1918089745-scaled.jpg” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” alt=”Jack Quaid and Denis Quaid” title_text=”UTA’s 2024 Golden Globes After-Party” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]
Bella Mackie<\/h2>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-1258705894-scaled.jpg” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” alt=”Bella Mackie” title_text=”The Women’s Prize For Fiction Awards” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]
Phoenix Brown<\/h3>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-1237705494-scaled.jpg” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” alt=”Mel B and Phoenix” title_text=”Cirque du Soleil’s %22LUZIA%22 London Premiere – VIP Arrivals” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]
Maya Hawke<\/h3>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-1258676604-scaled.jpg” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” alt=”Maya Hawke and Uma Thurman” title_text=”%22Asteroid City%22 New York Premiere – Party” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]
Nico Parker<\/h2>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-1334770398-scaled.jpg” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” alt=”Thandie Newton and Nico Parker” title_text=”Warner Bros. Pictures %22Reminiscence%22 Los Angeles Premiere – Arrivals” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]