Nepotism in Hollywood is again in the spotlight with the controversy surrounding "nepotism babies," a phenomenon that has been especially prominent in recent years. Nepotism is an issue in almost every field, but it is especially noticed in industries populated by celebrities, as the practice allows hegemonic groups to maintain and control vast amounts of wealth and influence from generation to generation. Although the nepo baby debate can be seen on almost any social media platform, it's a pretty niche topic.

Jack Quaid, John David Washington, Sosie Bacon, Zoe Kravitz, and Maya Hawke — just a few of the nepotism babies that starred in some of 2022's biggest movies and TV shows. Nepotism babies can be seen everywhere in Hollywood, with major actors like Tom Hanks (who has nepotism babies of his own) weighing in on the controversy. While some claim that nepotism babies are a natural benefit of success, others point out that nepotism can stifle pushes for diversity and prevent new ideas and talent from breaking out. It's an incredibly complicated issue.

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What "Nepo Baby" Means In Hollywood

Jack Quaid as Hughie and Karl Urban as Butcher in The Boys

Nepotism is the practice of people in power showing favoritism to family and friends when it comes to giving jobs. Nepotism has gotten its claws into nearly every field imaginable, with it being incredibly harmful in politics and other significant areas. In Hollywood, a "nepo baby" is an actor or actress who is the child of someone wealthy and powerful, with their parents most often being actors or musicians themselves. Sometimes there can be multiple generations of nepo babies, with The Falcon and the Winter Soldier's Wyatt Rusell being the son of actor Kurt Russel, who himself is the son of the wealthy Bing Russell.

It seems that most actors and actresses are only a few degrees of separation away from another wealthy and influential person. Nepo babies are a widespread phenomenon in Hollywood due to the nature of the field. Hollywood stars tend to be incredibly rich, and their vast wealth and close connections to the industry mean that if their children want in, they're almost guaranteed a starring role within a few years. If an actor's parents have blue names on Wikipedia, they're probably a nepotism baby.

Why Nepo Babies Are Suddenly A Major Topic

Zoe Kravitz High Fidelity

Nepotism in Hollywood has been around since the first cameras started rolling, causing many to wonder why nepo babies are such a hot topic right now. This is because many of 2022's biggest movies starred or featured nepo babies, putting the trend in audiences' faces more than ever before. Top Gun: Maverick has Lewis Pullman, Jurassic World: Dominion has Bryce Dallas Howard, Stranger Things has Maya Hawke, Emily in Paris has Lily Collins, and there are countless other examples.

Audiences started noticing nepo babies popping up with greater frequency throughout 2022, with the bubble of discussion growing and growing. Then, the bubble popped suddenly, and the conversation exploded due to a December 2022 article from Vulture that broke down the idea of nepotism babies in a way that allowed more and more people to learn about the topic. While nepotism babies have always been a part of Hollywood, it seems now more than ever that most of the most prominent new actors are the children of movie and TV stars, causing many to point out that Hollywood's hegemony and diversity problem was getting worse, not better.

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Is The Nepo Baby Accusation Fair?

Maya Hawke in Do Revenge Trailer

The question of whether accusing someone of being a nepo baby is fair is complicated to answer because it depends. Yes, Jack Quaid is the son of Dennis Quaid, but his performances in projects like The Boys are fantastic, with him deserving the role despite his parentage. On the other hand, someone like Jaden Smith has been bad in plenty of parts, and he probably wouldn't have the platform he does if it weren't for Will Smith. When it comes to nepo babies, most of them are talented regardless of how they entered Hollywood for the simple reason that they've been around acting their entire lives.

Many of these nepo babies were just kids when their career paths started being set in motion. It's impossible to prevent nepotism acting dynasties like the Barrymore family, but blaming the nepo babies themselves is not the right solution. If anyone's at fault, it's the parents of the nepo babies as well as the powerful elites in Hollywood that don't give new talent a chance. Nepotism is a problem for all the reasons listed throughout the article, but it's hard to blame the nepo babies for taking the opportunity to have wealthy and successful lives.

The best way to solve the nepo baby problem is through more diverse casting choices from outside the Hollywood system. Independent filmmakers are much less likely to schmooze with prominent Hollywood actors, meaning they're more likely to give new talent a chance. This allows first-generation actors to build a natural career rather than inheriting it from their parents. Nepotism in Hollywood is a problem, but it's the systems that perpetuate it that are the problem, not the nepo babies.

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