They’re everywhere! From Lily Collins to Maude Apatow to Ben Platt, the kids of celebrity parents are taking over Hollywood, and there’s now a term for it: “nepo babies.” Following the release of New York Magazine‘s article, “Extremely Overanalyzing Hollywood’s Nepo-Baby Boom,” in December 2022, many stars who are included on the list have responded ​to being called the term. Keep reading for all of the celebs who have spoken out about being “nepo babies.”

One of the first celebs to respond to the article was Lily-Rose Depp, the daughter of actor Johnny Depp and supermodel Vanessa Paradis. The famous daughter caused quite a controversy when she dismissed the effect that nepotism had on her modeling and acting career.

‘“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 the part,” Lily recently told Elle, also claiming the term “nepo baby” is mostly used against women. “The internet cares a lot more about who your family is than the people who are casting you in things. 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.”

She continued: “It’s weird to me to reduce somebody to the idea that they’re only there because it’s a generational thing. It just doesn’t make any sense. If somebody’s mom or dad is a doctor, and then the kid becomes a doctor, you’re not going to be like, ‘Well, you’re only a doctor because your parent is a doctor.’ It’s like, ‘No, I went to medical school and trained.”

Another celebrity with some hugely famous parents is Maya Hawke, the daughter of Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke. “I feel like the only way to handle the nepotism thing — which definitely gives you massive advantages in this life — is, you will get chances for free, but the chances will not be infinite,” she told Rolling Stone in 2022.

“So you have to keep working and do a good job. If you do a bad job, the chances will stop. That’s my ethos.”

Scroll through the gallery below to see which celebs have responded to the “nepo baby” debate, and what they’ve said. 

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