‘The View’ defends ‘nepo babies’ in debate: 'Nepotism has been going on all over the place'
"The View" jumped headlong into the "nepo baby" debate, defending celebrities who have benefitted from rich, famous or otherwise well-connected parents Monday.
On Tuesday, the hosts of "The View" weighed in on the "nepo" or "nepotism" baby debate, defending celebrities who have benefited from rich, famous or otherwise well-connected parents.
"I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t give their kid a step-up if they could," co-host Whoopi Goldberg said.
She added that a number of celebrities, including Haley Bieber, Gwyneth Paltrow and Allison Williams have spoken publicly about the "nepo baby" controversy.
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Sunny Hostin and Alyssa Farah Griffin talked nepotism on "The View" Monday. (ABC / Screenshot)
Paltrow has said that criticism of "nepo-babies" was fair.
"As the child of someone, you get access other people don't have, so the playing field is not level in that way."
Co-host Sunny Hostin argued that nepotism is nothing new. "Nepotism has been going on all over the place," she said.
"We had one Bush and another Bush president. We had one Cheney and we had another Cheney."
"John Quincy Adams," co-host Joy Behar added.
"We got the Clinton thing. We got the Obama thing," Hostin said.
"Any parent is going to try to make sure that their children have a better life than they had," she explained, giving her son as an example.
Hostin's son, Gabriel, is a current student at Harvard.
"Don’t assume that people didn’t earn their way to where they are," Goldberg said, agreeing with Hostin.
"I think the key is to acknowledge the privilege," co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin said.
Sunny Hostin said her son wasn't a "nepo-baby" and that he worked hard to get into Harvard. (Screenshot/ABC/TheView)
"And I loved Allison Williams, Brian Williams' daughter" for acknowledging that she was born with a leg up over other aspiring actresses," Griffin added.
Actress Allison Williams, who first had a breakout role in the HBO series "Girls," told Bravo TV host Andrew Cohen Monday that she felt like she was "born on third base."
"I'm not, like, an underdog. It's not fun to root for me. I came into this with a big, big headstart and I feel like it's totally okay to admit that. I feel really lucky, but I feel really privileged for sure."
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Allison Williams sparkled in a beaded black gown with pops of pink and silver. The actress accessorized her looks with diamond choker and slicked back hair. (Reuters)
But Goldberg emphasized that she personally was not a beneficiary of nepotism.
"I didn’t have a leg up," she said. "I got where I got because I got it."
Behar agreed with Goldberg, saying that a hard day’s work without relying on a rich family is satisfying.
"It feels great. Every dollar you spend is yours. Every compliment you get is yours. It’s not my father’s."
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Whoopi Goldberg defended those who have benefited from nepotism, telling viewers, "Don’t assume that people didn’t earn their way to where they are." (Screenshot/ABC/TheView)
"Don’t assume that people didn’t work and bust their behinds because some people were told by their parents that they weren’t going to get any help," Goldberg said.
Fox News’ Hanna Pancreck and Ashley Hume contributed to this report.