Gwyneth Paltrow has defended the ‘nepo baby’ phenomenon – months after a backlash against celebrities’ children who went into showbiz.
She herself hails from a Hollywood family, as the daughter of St. Elsewhere producer Bruce Paltrow and Meet The Parents actress Blythe Danner.
Having followed her mother’s footsteps into acting, Gwyneth, 51, now sees ‘nothing wrong with doing or wanting to do what your parents do.’
In a new interview with Bustle, the Oscar winner argued: ‘Nobody rips on a kid who’s like: “I want to be a doctor like my dad and granddad.”‘
However she insisted that her own daughter Apple, 19, is ‘a very private person’ who has no interest in even modeling for Gwyneth’s wellness brand Goop.
Speaking out: Gwyneth Paltrow has defended the ‘nepo baby’ trend – months after an online backlash against celebrities’ children who went into showbiz – while talking to Bustle
Family business: She herself is the the daughter of producer Bruce Paltrow and actress Blythe Danner, who are pictured with Gwyneth at the 1999 Oscars where she won best actress
However: Gwyneth insisted that her own daughter Apple, 19, is ‘a very private person’ who has no interest in even modeling for Gwyneth’s wellness brand Goop
When the interviewer said Apple ‘could be a lovely model,’ Gwyneth replied: ‘Exactly! She doesn’t want anything to do with it, though.’
She reflected: ‘Now there’s this whole nepo baby culture, and judgment that exists around kids of famous people. She’s really just a student, and she’s been very…. She just wants to be a kid and be at school and learn.’
Gwyneth stood up for children who join the same profession as their parents, pointing out that they are acting on the influences they absorbed at home.
‘The truth is if you grow up in a house with a lot of artists and people making art and music, that’s what you know, the same way that if you grow up in a house with law, the discussions around the table are about the nuances of whatever particular law the parents practice,’ she said. ‘I think it’s kind of an ugly moniker.’
She added: ‘I just hope that my children always feel free to pursue exactly what they want to do, irrespective of what anybody’s going to think or say.’
Gwyneth shares her daughter, as well as a son called Moses, 17, with her ex-husband Chris Martin, who became a global heartthrob as the frontman of Coldplay.
Chris and Gwyneth publicly separated in 2014, whereupon she inspired widespread mockery by referring to the breakup as a ‘conscious uncoupling.’
They have remained amicable and Gwyneth is famously even friendly with Chris’ much younger girlfriend Dakota Johnson of Fifty Shades Of Grey fame.
Spot the resemblance: Having followed her mother’s footsteps into acting, Gwyneth, 51, now sees ‘nothing wrong with doing or wanting to do what your parents do’
Going her own way: When the interviewer said Apple ‘could be a lovely model,’ Gwyneth replied: ‘Exactly! She doesn’t want anything to do with it, though’
The way they were: Gwyneth shares her daughter, as well as a son called Moses, 17, with her ex-husband Chris Martin, who became a global heartthrob as the frontman of Coldplay
Co-parents: They have remained amicable and Gwyneth is famously even friendly with Chris’ much younger girlfriend Dakota Johnson of Fifty Shades Of Grey fame
Meanwhile Gwyneth is currently married to the steamy TV writer Brad Falchuk, who is known for his collaborations with Ryan Murphy.
Late last year a social media furor erupted over ‘nepo babies’ who are said to have gotten showbiz careers because of family connections.
Critics pointed to a massive glut of rising starlets with famous parents, from Johnny Depp’s daughter Lily-Rose Depp to Andie MacDowell’s daughter Margaret Qualley.
Maude Apatow, whose father is Judd Apatow, and Maya Hawke, whose parents are Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman, have shot to fame in recent years as well.
Madonna’s daughter Lourdes Leon, Heidi Klum’s daughter Leni Klum and Elvis Presley’s granddaughter Riley Keough are also coming up, among others.
The online chatter around ‘nepo babies’ reached a fever pitch last December after New York magazine ran a viral cover story about the phenomenon.
Dakota Johnson, whose parents are Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith and whose grandmother is Hitchcock blonde Tippi Hedren, was one of the faces on the cover.
Jamie Lee Curtis, the daughter of Psycho actress Janet Leigh and Some Like It Hot dreamboat Tony Curtis, then waded into the debate. Calling herself the ‘OG Nepo Baby,’ she complained: ‘The current conversation about nepo babies is just designed to try to diminish and denigrate and hurt.’
