Lottie Moss has defended being a “nepo baby” in the wake of New York Magazine’s nepotism-themed cover featuring Hollywood stars and their famous parents.
Moss, who is the 24-year-old half-sister of supermodel Kate Moss, shared her thoughts about the nepotism baby debate to Twitter on Wednesday, 21 December. The British fashion model expressed how “sick” she was over people “blaming nepotism” over their own career failures, and urged her followers to focus on their own successes.
“I’m so sick of people blaming nepotism for why they aren’t rich and famous or successful,” Moss tweeted. “Obviously it’s not fair that people who come from famous families are getting a leg up because of that but guess what? Life isn’t fair”.
“If you put your mind to something you can accomplish anything!” she continued. “So instead of being negative about other peoples success go and try and create your own!”
In a separate tweet, Moss clarified that she is “so grateful” for the “opportunities I’ve had” and admitted that she’s “privileged being related to a huge model”. However, she added that “sh****ng on others because of it makes NO sense”.
Moss’ comments come after New York Magazine published a buzzing cover about nepotism babies, titled “The Year of the Nepo Baby,” for its December 2022 issue. A nepotism baby – or colloquially known as “nepo baby” – are figures in the entertainment industry with famous or successful parents, possibly giving them an advantage in their careers over those without familial connections.
Unsurprisingly, the publication also published a separate article about nepo babies in the fashion industry, namedropping models such as Kendall Jenner, Kaia Gerber, Hailey Bieber, and Lily-Rose Depp. Lila Grace Moss – Kate Moss’s daughter – was also mentioned in the article.
Despite her defense of nepotism babies, Lottie Moss has previously revealed her sister Kate Moss “never really supported” her professionally in her modeling career.
In an Instagram post shared earlier this month, Moss wrote in the caption: “I understand I have come from a very privileged position being the sister of someone very famous but believe it or not that person never really supported me, my parents were amazing but could not relate to what I was going through and did not know the full extent of what I was going through most of the time. I was pretty much on my own so I had to navigate this by myself and do the best I could which I feel I have.”
Moss isn’t the only celebrity to speak out against the “nepo baby” label. Singer and actor Lily Allen, who is the daughter of the actor Keith Allen, weighed in on the debate when she warned her Twitter about the real nepo babies people should be worrying about.
“The nepo babies y’all should be worrying about are the ones working for legal firms, the ones working for banks, and the ones working in politics,” she tweeted on Monday (19 December). “If we’re talking about real world consequences and robbing people of opportunity. BUT that’s none of my business.”
She added: “In childhood we crave stability and love, nurturing, we don’t care about money or proximity to power yet. Many of the nepo babies are starved of these basic things in childhood as their parents are probably narcissistic.”
In another tweet, she wrote: “And before you come at me for being a nepo baby myself, I will be the first to tell you that I literally deserve nothing.”
Prior to the New York Magazine cover story, both Lily-Rose Depp and Zoë Kravitz have defended being nepo babies themselves. Depp, who is the 23-year-old daughter of Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis, hit out at those who’ve claimed she’s had an advantage in the film industry solely because of her parents.
“The internet seems to care a lot about that kind of stuff,” the Voyagers actor told Elle magazine. “People are going to have preconceived ideas about you or how you got there. I can definitely say that nothing is going to get you the part except for being right for the part. 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.”
Meanwhile, Zoë Kravtiz – who is the child of musician Lenny Kravitz and actor Lisa Bonet – admitted in a November interview with GQ that she had a “deep insecurity” about her success as an actor being viewed as less because of her parents.
The Batman star also told the publication that “it’s completely normal for people to be in the family business”.
“It’s literally where last names came from. You were a blacksmith if your family was, like, the Black family,” she said.
