Gwyneth Paltrow has weighed in on the ongoing nepotism baby debate, joking that she needs the “nepo baby” shirt recently worn by Hailey Bieber.
Last week, Bieber, who was recently labelled a nepo baby by New York Magazine due to her famous relatives and husband, made a statement about the title with a white T-shirt emblazoned with the words “nepo baby”.
The statement tee prompted an Instagram post from InStyle over the weekend, who noted that Bieber was “saying it with her whole chest”.
The Instagram post was met with a number of amused comments -- including one by Paltrow.
“I might need a few of these,” Paltrow, who is the daughter of actress Blythe Danner and director Bruce Paltrow, joked. The actor’s reply, which InStyle described as a “truly iconic moment,” has since been liked more than 800 times.
This is not the first time that Paltrow has acknowledged her privilege. She previously opened up about the topic during a July 2022 conversation with Bieber for her Youtube series, Who’s in My Bathroom.
At the time, Paltrow said that the playing field is “not level” when it comes to nepotism and noted that “as the child of someone, you get access other people don’t have”.
Paltrow also noted that those with connections have to work “twice as hard” after their foot is in the door.
“However, I really do feel that once your foot is in the door, which you unfairly got in, then you almost have to work twice as hard and be twice as good,” she continued. “Because people are ready to pull you down and say ‘You don’t belong there’ or ‘You are only there because of your dad or your mom.’”
During the conversation, Paltrow also claimed that “nobody in the world, especially anyone who doesn’t know you” should be able to have a negative impact on one’s path.
The advice prompted praise from Bieber, who responded: “I needed to hear this today.”
Paltrow is not the only one to applaud Bieber’s statement shirt. Fans also praised the model for the amusing fashion choice.
“Hailey Bieber in a ‘nepo baby’ shirt in the midst of the debate is kind of a moment,” one person wrote.
The renewed interest in the Hollywood nepotism discourse was sparked with New York Magazine’s “The Year of the Nepo Baby” cover. The cover included a graph of various “nepotism babies,” such as Dakota Johnson, Jack Quaid and Zoë Kravitz.
