Unpopular opinion: almost everyone benefits from personal connections at some point in their lives. Maybe a parent helped you land an internship, or your neighbor hired you at the local grocery store. The recent spotlight on what it means to be a Nepo Baby has changed the way we talk about success. Connections are part of how opportunities work, whether we like to admit it or not.
Hollywood happens to put those connections on display for the whole world to see.
It’s becoming almost impossible to celebrate someone’s success without first auditing their family tree. If someone has a famous parent, the conversation quickly shifts from what they achieved to who helped them get there. Nepotism deserves criticism, but at what point does that criticism become its own kind of unfairness? I’m not arguing that nepotism isn’t real. I’m arguing that we’ve started treating it as if it erases talent altogether.
Sincerely, Nepo Baby
I should probably disclose that I have a bias here. Nothing gets me on my soapbox faster than a nepo baby debate, mostly because I’m a Big Ben Platt fan. Ben Platt is one of the most recognizable examples of the “nepo baby” debate. His father, Marc Platt, is an accomplished producer, and critics often point to that connection when discussing Ben’s career. In the beginning of his career, Ben was widely celebrated as a Tony Award-winning performer who had originated the role of Evan Hansen on Broadway. His talent wasn’t really in question. The conversation changed after his father produced the movie adaptation starring Ben. It quickly reignited accusations that his success was more about his last name than his abilities.
There are a lot of reasons why the movie wasn’t successful that I’m not going to get into. However, the main complaint was that Platt was too old for the part and wouldn’t have been cast if his dad wasn’t the producer. However, I’m not necessarily convinced that’s true. As he originated the role and was synonymous with the show for so long, it made sense for him to return for the big screen. It also made sense for his father, who produced movies like Wicked and La La Land, to return for a film that fell within his skill set. Before the film, Ben Platt was considered a nepo baby but was also heavily acknowledged for his talent. After the film, you couldn’t find his name without the term “nepo baby” next to it.
Of course, the frustration surrounding nepotism doesn’t come from nowhere. Every role or opportunity that goes to someone with built-in connections is one that countless equally talented people may never even have the chance to compete for. Hollywood has always been criticized for being insular, and nepotism is one reason many people feel the industry isn’t accessible to the average person. That’s a valid criticism. But acknowledging that unfairness doesn’t mean every successful person with famous parents should have their accomplishments permanently reduced to their family connections.
The problem of acknowledgment
A big complaint about nepo babies is their lack of acknowledgment of the powers that got them in the door. People want them to explain how they wouldn’t have had the same opportunities without their parents. Then, if they do acknowledge it, they want them to say it again and again. There is an inherent advantage in having famous parents or built-in connections, but that doesn’t discount the work people still have to put in. Platt still performed eight shows a week, and who his father is doesn’t change the effort that went into that. It didn’t change the positive response to him as a performer or the awards he and the show won. The work he had to put into every project doesn’t change because of his parentage, but the reaction does.
Ben Platt was heavily criticized for not acknowledging his position as a nepo baby, which he has since done multiple times, but I don’t think we can really blame him. If you spent your whole life working for something, would you want to spend the rest of your life clarifying that you wouldn’t be successful without your parents?
Platts said that having connections gave him an understanding of the business and that he’s very privileged because of it. But he still works to receive his parts on his own merit. He’s widely recognized as extremely talented, and there’s no way of knowing whether he’d be as successful without those connections. At what point can he be viewed as a talented performer rather than a nepo baby? Will every part he ever gets have the caveat that he wouldn’t have it without his dad? Or can he be acknowledged as a successful performer on his own merits?
Are we being too harsh?
Hating nepo babies simply because they’re nepo babies isn’t actually helping open any doors for anyone else. We aren’t making Hollywood more inclusive; we aren’t supporting small artists; we’re just insulting nepo babies because we can.
If our goal is a more accessible entertainment industry, then our energy is probably better spent asking how to expand opportunities rather than debating whether someone with famous parents is allowed to be proud of their accomplishments. You can be grateful for the privilege you come from and still want to stand on your own two feet; many people have proven they can stand on their own without their parentage.
It’s not surprising that people with famous parents or family in the entertainment industry follow the same path. In the same way, it’s not surprising that there are families made up entirely of doctors or lawyers, or businesses that the same family runs for generations. The concept of a family business is nothing new, and it’s expected when you’re raised in an environment of people who are successful at something you want to do too. The entertainment industry is unfair and hard to get into, but nepo babies didn’t make it that way. So why are we hating them just to have someone to blame for it?
Most People Have Benefited from Someone Opening a Door
This is not the moment where everyone stands in a circle and sings Kumbaya. But it is an acknowledgment that just about everybody wouldn’t be where they are today without certain connections that helped get them there. I personally am a nepo baby in many ways. My dad works for an airline, and I get free flights. My mom works for a magazine where I get to write articles, and I’m very grateful to be in the position I’m in. If a family member recommends you for a job, or a family friend helps get your résumé in front of the right person, you’ve still benefited from personal connections. There are different scales of nepotism, and there are still instances of nepotism without any merit to back them up. However, that doesn’t mean we should be searching for reasons to discount other people’s success or hard work.
Nepotism should never shield someone from criticism, but neither should it become the only thing we remember about them. It’s possible to acknowledge that someone started the race closer to the finish line while also recognizing that they still had to run it. Maybe the question isn’t whether someone benefited from connections. Maybe the better question is what they did with the opportunity once they got it.
