Gwyneth Paltrow is sharing her take on the nepotism baby debate.
During an interview with Bustle, published online Wednesday, the Oscar-winning actress and businesswoman, who is the daughter of actress Blythe Danner and director-producer Bruce Paltrow, called the term “nepo baby” an “ugly moniker.”
When asked what’s it like for her 19-year-old daughter to navigate her family, Paltrow said, “Now there’s this whole nepo baby culture, and judgment that exists around kids of famous people. She’s really just a student, and she’s been very… she just wants to be a kid and be at school and learn.”
But the Iron Man star went on to note that “there’s nothing wrong with doing or wanting to do what your parents do.” Adding, “Nobody rips on a kid who’s like, ‘I want to be a doctor like my dad and granddad.’ The truth is if you grow up in a house with a lot of artists and people making art and music, that’s what you know, the same way that if you grow up in a house with law, the discussions around the table are about the nuances of whatever particular law the parents practice.”
The discussion surrounding nepo babies has become a widely debated topic in recent years, especially among Hollywood, with several stars chiming in to defend children of industry notables, including Jamie Lee Curtis, Kate Hudson, O’Shea Jackson Jr. and Lily Allen.
Curtis previously said, “The current conversation about nepo babies is just designed to try to diminish and denigrate and hurt.” Hudson has acknowledged nepotism is real but feels that it happens “way more” in other industries outside of Hollywood.
The controversial term, which is defined as a successful celebrity with at least one famous parent, was even added to the dictionary this year.
But at the end of the day, Paltrow just hopes her “children always feel free to pursue exactly what they want to do, irrespective of what anybody’s going to think or say.”
