'The Five' discusses nepotism in celebrity families
'The Five' gives their take on the children of famous celebrities getting ahead in their careers.
Allison Williams isn't bothered by the "nepo baby" label, and argued it was obvious her famous family name helped her get a leg up in Hollywood.
The daughter of veteran NBC journalist Brian Williams got her first big acting gig when she was cast in the HBO series "Girls" in 2012.
Her father left NBC News at the end of 2021 after 28 years with the network. He was suspended in 2015 after admitting he lied about being shot down in Iraq in 2003.
Williams told Vulture Magazine she found the recent backlash from famous children to the "nepo baby" label "ludicrous."
"All that people are looking for is an acknowledgment that it’s not a level playing field. It’s just unfair. Period, end of the story, and no one’s really working that hard to make it fair. To not acknowledge that me getting started as an actress versus someone with zero connections isn’t the same — it’s ludicrous," she told the entertainment outlet.
Allison Williams' "Girls" premiered on HBO in spring 2012. (Reuters)
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A slew of celebrities have come out recently to reject the accusations they've benefited from being a "nepo baby."
But Williams didn't shy away from the criticism.
"It doesn’t take anything away from the work that I’ve done. It just means that it’s not as fun to root for me," she told Vulture.
Singer Lily Allen, daughter of "Trainspotting" actor Keith Allen and producer Alison Owen, recently defended "nepo babies" in a series of tweets that riled up social media.
MSNBC's Brian Williams was famously caught embellishing tales about his own experiences and earned the moniker "Lyin’ Brian" in the process. (Reuters/Phil McCarten)
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Allen said she felt "nepo babies are being somewhat scapegoated" and they deserved sympathy because they were "starved" of "stability, love, [and] nurturing" from their parents.
She argued that people should be criticizing nepotism in sectors other than Hollywood.
Olivia Rodrigo and Lily Allen sang Allen's 2009 hit 'F--- You' to the Supreme Court justices following Roe v Wade decision. (Joseph Okpako)
"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, if we’re talking about real world consequences and robbing people of opportunity," Allen tweeted. "BUT that’s none of my business."
Actress Kate Hudson and Lily Rose-Depp also defended getting their starts in Hollywood because of their famous parents.
"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," Depp, who is the daughter of actor Johnny Depp and French model Vanessa Paradis, said.