Nepo babies: What the term means as Lily Allen and Lily-Rose Depp share opinions on internet craze

When you think of who you are, do you think of your physical features, your louder than life personality, your parents?

For many celebrities, the question of whether they are a nepotistic baby seems to be a defining quality - at least according to Internet users in 2022.

From movie and television actors, models on the catwalk or NBA stars, online fans have seemingly become obsessed with their parents and have been questioning if the stars truly have talent, or the correct family, to make it into the big time?

According to Harper’s Bazaar, a ‘nepo baby’ is a “subset of celebrity whose fame may or may not have been given a slight leg-up by the fact that either one or both of their parents were famous in their own right.”

This year, Lily-Rose Depp, Maude Apatow and Maya Hawke have all been recognised for their talent in their various fields, but have also been noted for their well-known Mum’s and/or Dad’s.

Maya Hawke established herself as a model before turning to the small screen, making her on screen debut in 2017 for a BBC adaptation of Little Women, before she gained widespread recognition after appearing as Robin Buckley in Netflix’s Stranger Things.

Stranger things have happened than children following in their parent’s footsteps but it seems that Maya has fallen into the same footfall as her famous acting parents Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke.

Speaking of her parents and growing up, Maya said: “They were wary of the public side of acting and the difficulties of that. They wanted to ensure I had a strong enough backbone, my own passion for it and work ethic.

“Once I was old enough, and it was clear [acting] was my choice, they were supportive.”

Another internet-branded ‘nepo baby’ is Lily-Rose Depp, the daughter of Johnny Depp and French singer Vanessa Paradis, who has made a name for herself as a model for Chanel and an actress in The King.

Lily-Rose Depp has also spoken about the spotlight on her family and her pathway to success, voicing her opinion about the ‘nepo’ label.

She said: “The internet seems to care a lot about that kind of stuff. People are going to have preconceived ideas about you or how you got there, and I can definitely say that nothing is going to get you the part except for being right for that part.

“It’s weird to me to reduce somebody to the idea that they’re only there because it’s a generational thing… Maybe you get your foot in the door, but you still just have your foot in the door. There’s a lot of work that comes after that.”

As the attention and criticism on 'nepo babies' increased throughout this year, the daughter of actor Keith Allen and film producer Alison Owen, Lily Allen, known for her singing career, launched a rant on Twitter hitting back at critics.

Lily initially tweeted that the nepotism babies people should be wary of are the ones working in 'legal firms, banks and politics' not the ones in the entertainment industry.

The 'Smile' singer made reference to her famous parents in the tweet but suggested that she 'deserved nothing.'

She finally added: "In childhood we crave stability and love, nurturing, we don't care about money or proximity to power yet...and the entertainment business is not parent friendly."