Mel B’s daughter has said that nepo babies like her have never faced so much hate as they do now.
Phoenix Brown, writing in the Radio Times, warned “the term has increasingly toxic connotations” but questioned why that was.
“Even when nepo babies are great at their job – and many are – they face a backlash fuelled by misunderstanding, jealousy or resentment,” she said.
She acknowledged that “having Mel B as my mum has opened a few doors” in her own career within the world of entertainment.
But she also highlighted the rising anger in recent years “almost to the point of obsession” on social media with nepo babies.
She added: “The issue has never before sparked so much hate or become so febrile and poisonous.”
Ms Brown, whose mum was famous for Spice Girls hits like 2 become 1 and Wannabe, also asked whether “nepo babies [were] taking the flak for wider inequality in society?”
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A nepo baby, short for nepotism baby, is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as “a person who gains success or opportunities through familial connections”.
New York Magazine called 2022 “The Year of the Nepo Baby” highlighting the number of famous “actors, singers, directors who just happen to be the children of actors, singers, directors”.
This included the likes of Will Smith’s son Jaden Smith and Johnny Depp’s daughter Lily-Rose Depp as well as Brits like Lily Collins (daughter of pop star/actor Phil) and Lily and Alfie Allen (children of actor/comedian Keith Allen).
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For a Channel 4 documentary she presented about nepo babies, Phoenix Brown said that of the “90 so-called nepo children” she reached out to, only one, the son of Boyzone star Ronan Keating, agreed to speak on camera.
“Nepo babies must acknowledge that we’re handed opportunities faster than most people,” she said.
She continued: “As my mum says in the documentary, she came from a working-class background and had no one to open doors for her. I wouldn’t have the life that I have if it wasn’t for the hard work that she put into her own career. To not respect that would be silly.”
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But she also said that there were downsides to growing up a nepo baby, including facing hate and having her parents’ private lives in the press.
