Latest news with #SusanSarandon
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Nepo is the new normal: How the kids of Hollywood A-listers started getting real and stopped fighting their family name
If you can't escape the shadow, step into it. That's the new way of the Hollywood nepo baby. Take Jack Henry Robbins, son of Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins, for example. He just landed a Hulu comedy series, aptly titled Nepo Baby, based on the viral character he created satirizing his own life as the child of celebrities. The series will riff on the nepo baby phenomenon popularized by New York magazine's 2022 cover story, which spotlighted how the children of stars often have a head start in Hollywood compared to those without connections. Jack, 36, wrote on Instagram that the character he created "was born from my deepest insecurity." However, embracing the role of "the world's worst nepo baby" — with assists from his parents and Steven Spielberg's daughter Sasha, who appeared in the social media series — "changed my life." Ireland Baldwin, daughter of Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger and an aspiring screenwriter, was quick to quip in the comments section, "I'm available." We've entered a nepo baby era that sees the latest crop of famous offspring embrace their lineages with a healthy dose of self-awareness. Like Ava Phillippe, daughter of Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe, who recently got behind the "holy freakin' airball" TikTok trend, where people share an incorrect assumption followed by a humblebrag. The brand ambassador/model/aspiring actress flexed about her mother's role as Elle Woods in Legally Blonde. The nepos, it seems, are exhibiting signs of acceptance, marking a noticeable shift from the Hollywood "nepo-verse" strongly opposing the label not so long ago. A cool nickname Hollywood has always been a famous family business. Michael Douglas, Jane Fonda, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ben Stiller, Gwyneth Paltrow and Robert Downey Jr. have last names that carry weight in the entertainment industry, with the pedigree to back it up. Their lineages were never a secret — nor were those of Kate Hudson, Angelina Jolie or Isabella Rossellini. But amid a broader cultural reckoning with privilege and access, a more blinding spotlight was shone on the connections of the younger crop of connected stars. Lily-Rose Depp, Jack Quaid, Zoë Kravitz, Maya Hawke, Maude Apatow, Kendall Jenner, Hailey Bieber and Kaia Gerber have all been dubbed "nepo babies" for their A-list relations. Yes, talent can run in a family, but so can connections. While these young stars have chops, they also have built-in access to agents and casting directors that the typical aspiring performer doesn't. Even if a nepo baby doesn't use a parent's connections directly, their last name alone provides intrigue, inviting them in the door that's closed for most everyone else. That's something not offered to the typical aspiring actor who's traveled to Hollywood with nothing. Are they under harsher scrutiny than the nepo babies before them? Definitely. In this age of 24/7 news coverage and social media, audiences are aware of their connections and New York magazine gave that awareness a name (or 'ugly moniker,' as Paltrow dubbed it). View this post on Instagram A post shared by New York Magazine (@nymag) After all, culturally, entertainment consumers bear some blame for the public's long-running interest in star kids. Since some of them were born, they were staked out by paparazzi at the playground with their images filtered to celebrity magazines and websites. We've long been fascinated by them. Plus, we're in an era of Hollywood where originality is increasingly rare. Most movies are largely sequels, franchises or based on a popular toy, book or video game. In this risk-averse industry, the nepo baby fits right in. Instead of being an "unknown" talent, they come in already familiar to audiences. We've watched many of them grow up, seen them on red carpets with their famous parents. There's no need for introductions. Cue the outrage How the nepo babies responded to the branding was of their own successful or failed PR plan. At this point, practically everyone has been asked about it, but soon after the publication of the New York cover story, Lily-Rose Depp, the actress daughter of Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis, faced criticism for not "getting it." "People are going to have preconceived ideas about you or how you got there, and I can definitely say that nothing is going to get you the part except for being right for the part," The Idol actress told Elle in 2022. "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." Kendall Jenner, the model daughter of Kris Jenner and Caitlyn Jenner, was also called out of touch after she said that while she's "one of the luckiest people on the planet to be able to live the life that I live. … I do think that it's challenging for me a lot more than it's not." Zoë Kravitz, the actress/director daughter of Lenny Kravitz and Lisa Bonet, was also called tone deaf for her comments about it being "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." Theater Camp star Ben Platt, son of Legally Blonde producer Marc Platt, wouldn't even answer a question about being a nepo baby in 2023. His publicist intervened. Embracing the bloodline Amid the nepo backlash, Hailey Bieber — daughter of Stephen Baldwin and now wife of Justin Bieber — leaned into the controversy by wearing a shirt proudly bearing the label in 2023. She later told the Sunday Times, "That was me being, like, 'I'm very aware of the situation [and] I'm going to wear it loud and proud because you are already labeling me as such and it's true.'" Over the last year, as the nepo-ness of it all has settled, there's been more of an embrace of it by some. While Dakota Johnson, daughter of Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith, finds the whole conversation "annoying," "boring" and "lame," she did playfully parody it on Saturday Night Live, offering herself up as the punchline. She also recently talked about how her dad cut her off when she didn't get into Juilliard and she had to pound the pavement a bit. "It was hard to make money. There were a few times when I'd go to the market and not have money in my bank account or not be able to pay rent." The granddaughter of Hollywood royalty Tippi Hedren added, "I'd have to ask my parents for help." Patrick Schwarzenegger has called the label "frustrating" and talked about the "hundreds of rejected auditions" he had before landing his revealing White Lotus role. But then in June, he did an about-face, leaning into his scion status by doing a joint Variety interview with his dad and discussing — yes — nepotism. "There were times earlier in my career where I was wondering, does it make sense to go under an alias?" Patrick, son of Maria Shriver, admitted. Arnold said he was surprised to learn how difficult a time Patrick had because of his last name, saying, "To me, the name 'Schwarzenegger' always meant a big plus." Allison Williams, daughter of newsman Brian Williams, is also among the more self-aware nepo babies. The Girls alum told the Guardian, "Aside from all the many layers of privilege, high on the list is the fact that I could pursue a career in acting without being worried that I wasn't going to be able to feed myself." Kaia Gerber, the actress/model daughter of Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber, told WSJ last year, "I don't think it's a topic that will go away, so I've clearly reached a point of acceptance. I personally am very aware of all the wonderful things it has done for me, and I would never, ever say anything negative about it, because that is my truth about it." Her nepo baby boyfriend, Lewis Pullman, the son of Bill Pullman, also acknowledged that his father's fame allowed him many chances to "get comfortable in front of a camera" because it took him a long time to get there. However, part of it was trying to live up to his father's reputation. The Thunderbolts* actor said, "I felt a lot of pressure to fill his shoes. Once I realized that it was an impossible pair of shoes to fill, I kind of found a sense of relief in knowing that if there was any future for me in film that it would be by doing it my own way and trying to blaze my own trail." 'We're still talking about it' After their early comments on the topic weren't well-received, nepo babies adopted a new PR strategy. They've been owning the label more, so they're less weaponized by it. Besides, nearly three years after the New York article came out, the conversation about nepotism in Hollywood isn't going anywhere — just ask the guy who wrote the story. "We definitely knew we were going to cause a stir when we published the story," Vulture features writer Nate Jones tells Yahoo. "You don't Photoshop celebrities' heads onto babies without thinking it'll have some impact." "As far as 2025 goes," he continues, "I don't know if I was thinking that far ahead. But it makes sense that we're still talking about it, because this is a situation that can never really be resolved. On an individual level, nobody is actually doing anything wrong: It's not wrong to want to go into the same field as your parents, or to want your child to follow in your footsteps. It's only when you zoom out to the macro level that it becomes this conversation about wealth and privilege. And obviously structural inequality hasn't gone away in just three years, so it makes sense there's still some resentment towards them." Jones says he's been heartened to see some celebrities start to embrace it. "I feel like there was some hand-wringing in the nepo community after our story was published, like: What are we supposed to do? And I think that a few of them have started to model the best way to handle it, which is to be up front about it," he says. "You've just got to accept it and not be defensive. Because it's the being defensive that really brings the knives out." Jones says it's been "hard not to keep up with" the cultural conversation around nepo babies, "especially because a lot of very kind friends and acquaintances have the misconception that I invented the term [and] send me a link anytime it comes up." 'You've just got to accept it and not be defensive. Because it's the being defensive that really brings the knives out.'Nate Jones However, while he helped popularize the term, he didn't coin it — and he doesn't want it becoming part of his identity either. "Just like a nepo baby doesn't want to only be known as a nepo baby, I don't want to become the 'nepo baby guy,'" Jones says. "After the story blew up, I would get people asking me if I wanted to write a nepo baby book, and that was a no from me. I feel like I've said all I have to say on the subject. Or, 'almost all,'" he says. "I did respond to you, after all." But the conversation isn't fading, it's shifting. These stars didn't choose the nepo life and they're not fighting the label as hard as they once did. And with Hollywood still making space for them, why would they?
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Nepo is the new normal: How the kids of Hollywood A-listers started getting real and stopped fighting their family name
If you can't escape the shadow, step into it. That's the new way of the Hollywood nepo baby. Take Jack Henry Robbins, son of Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins, for example. He just landed a Hulu comedy series, aptly titled Nepo Baby, based on the viral character he created satirizing his own life as the child of celebrities. The series will riff on the nepo baby phenomenon popularized by New York magazine's 2022 cover story, which spotlighted how the children of stars often have a head start in Hollywood compared to those without connections. Jack, 36, wrote on Instagram that the character he created "was born from my deepest insecurity." However, embracing the role of "the world's worst nepo baby" — with assists from his parents and Steven Spielberg's daughter Sasha, who appeared in the social media series — "changed my life." Ireland Baldwin, daughter of Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger and an aspiring screenwriter, was quick to quip in the comments section, "I'm available." We've entered a nepo baby era that sees the latest crop of famous offspring embrace their lineages with a healthy dose of self-awareness. Like Ava Phillippe, daughter of Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe, who recently got behind the "holy freakin' airball" TikTok trend, where people share an incorrect assumption followed by a humblebrag. The brand ambassador/model/aspiring actress flexed about her mother's role as Elle Woods in Legally Blonde. The nepos, it seems, are exhibiting signs of acceptance, marking a noticeable shift from the Hollywood "nepo-verse" strongly opposing the label not so long ago. A cool nickname Hollywood has always been a famous family business. Michael Douglas, Jane Fonda, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ben Stiller, Gwyneth Paltrow and Robert Downey Jr. have last names that carry weight in the entertainment industry, with the pedigree to back it up. Their lineages were never a secret — nor were those of Kate Hudson, Angelina Jolie or Isabella Rossellini. But amid a broader cultural reckoning with privilege and access, a more blinding spotlight was shone on the connections of the younger crop of connected stars. Lily-Rose Depp, Jack Quaid, Zoë Kravitz, Maya Hawke, Maude Apatow, Kendall Jenner, Hailey Bieber and Kaia Gerber have all been dubbed "nepo babies" for their A-list relations. Yes, talent can run in a family, but so can connections. While these young stars have chops, they also have built-in access to agents and casting directors that the typical aspiring performer doesn't. Even if a nepo baby doesn't use a parent's connections directly, their last name alone provides intrigue, inviting them in the door that's closed for most everyone else. That's something not offered to the typical aspiring actor who's traveled to Hollywood with nothing. Are they under harsher scrutiny than the nepo babies before them? Definitely. In this age of 24/7 news coverage and social media, audiences are aware of their connections and New York magazine gave that awareness a name (or 'ugly moniker,' as Paltrow dubbed it). After all, culturally, entertainment consumers bear some blame for the public's long-running interest in star kids. Since some of them were born, they were staked out by paparazzi at the playground with their images filtered to celebrity magazines and websites. We've long been fascinated by them. Plus, we're in an era of Hollywood where originality is increasingly rare. Most movies are largely sequels, franchises or based on a popular toy, book or video game. In this risk-averse industry, the nepo baby fits right in. Instead of being an "unknown" talent, they come in already familiar to audiences. We've watched many of them grow up, seen them on red carpets with their famous parents. There's no need for introductions. Cue the outrage How the nepo babies responded to the branding was of their own successful or failed PR plan. At this point, practically everyone has been asked about it, but soon after the publication of the New York cover story, Lily-Rose Depp, the actress daughter of Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis, faced criticism for not "getting it." "People are going to have preconceived ideas about you or how you got there, and I can definitely say that nothing is going to get you the part except for being right for the part," The Idol actress told Elle in 2022. "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." Kendall Jenner, the model daughter of Kris Jenner and Caitlyn Jenner, was also called out of touch after she said that while she's "one of the luckiest people on the planet to be able to live the life that I live. … I do think that it's challenging for me a lot more than it's not." Zoë Kravitz, the actress/director daughter of Lenny Kravitz and Lisa Bonet, was also called tone deaf for her comments about it being "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." Theater Camp star Ben Platt, son of Legally Blonde producer Marc Platt, wouldn't even answer a question about being a nepo baby in 2023. His publicist intervened. Embracing the bloodline Amid the nepo backlash, Hailey Bieber — daughter of Stephen Baldwin and now wife of Justin Bieber — leaned into the controversy by wearing a shirt proudly bearing the label in 2023. She later told the Sunday Times, "That was me being, like, 'I'm very aware of the situation [and] I'm going to wear it loud and proud because you are already labeling me as such and it's true.'" Over the last year, as the nepo-ness of it all has settled, there's been more of an embrace of it by some. While Dakota Johnson, daughter of Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith, finds the whole conversation "annoying," "boring" and "lame," she did playfully parody it on Saturday Night Live, offering herself up as the punchline. She also recently talked about how her dad cut her off when she didn't get into Juilliard and she had to pound the pavement a bit. "It was hard to make money. There were a few times when I'd go to the market and not have money in my bank account or not be able to pay rent." The granddaughter of Hollywood royalty Tippi Hedren added, "I'd have to ask my parents for help." Patrick Schwarzenegger has called the label "frustrating" and talked about the "hundreds of rejected auditions" he had before landing his revealing White Lotus role. But then in June, he did an about-face, leaning into his scion status by doing a joint Variety interview with his dad and discussing — yes — nepotism. "There were times earlier in my career where I was wondering, does it make sense to go under an alias?" Patrick, son of Maria Shriver, admitted. Arnold said he was surprised to learn how difficult a time Patrick had because of his last name, saying, "To me, the name 'Schwarzenegger' always meant a big plus." Allison Williams, daughter of newsman Brian Williams, is also among the more self-aware nepo babies. The Girls alum told the Guardian, "Aside from all the many layers of privilege, high on the list is the fact that I could pursue a career in acting without being worried that I wasn't going to be able to feed myself." Kaia Gerber, the actress/model daughter of Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber, told WSJ last year, "I don't think it's a topic that will go away, so I've clearly reached a point of acceptance. I personally am very aware of all the wonderful things it has done for me, and I would never, ever say anything negative about it, because that is my truth about it." Her nepo baby boyfriend, Lewis Pullman, the son of Bill Pullman, also acknowledged that his father's fame allowed him many chances to "get comfortable in front of a camera" because it took him a long time to get there. However, part of it was trying to live up to his father's reputation. The Thunderbolts* actor said, "I felt a lot of pressure to fill his shoes. Once I realized that it was an impossible pair of shoes to fill, I kind of found a sense of relief in knowing that if there was any future for me in film that it would be by doing it my own way and trying to blaze my own trail." 'We're still talking about it' After their early comments on the topic weren't well-received, nepo babies adopted a new PR strategy. They've been owning the label more, so they're less weaponized by it. Besides, nearly three years after the New York article came out, the conversation about nepotism in Hollywood isn't going anywhere — just ask the guy who wrote the story. "We definitely knew we were going to cause a stir when we published the story," Vulture features writer Nate Jones tells Yahoo. "You don't Photoshop celebrities' heads onto babies without thinking it'll have some impact." "As far as 2025 goes," he continues, "I don't know if I was thinking that far ahead. But it makes sense that we're still talking about it, because this is a situation that can never really be resolved. On an individual level, nobody is actually doing anything wrong: It's not wrong to want to go into the same field as your parents, or to want your child to follow in your footsteps. It's only when you zoom out to the macro level that it becomes this conversation about wealth and privilege. And obviously structural inequality hasn't gone away in just three years, so it makes sense there's still some resentment towards them." Jones says he's been heartened to see some celebrities start to embrace it. "I feel like there was some hand-wringing in the nepo community after our story was published, like: What are we supposed to do? And I think that a few of them have started to model the best way to handle it, which is to be up front about it," he says. "You've just got to accept it and not be defensive. Because it's the being defensive that really brings the knives out." Jones says it's been "hard not to keep up with" the cultural conversation around nepo babies, "especially because a lot of very kind friends and acquaintances have the misconception that I invented the term [and] send me a link anytime it comes up." However, while he helped popularize the term, he didn't coin it — and he doesn't want it becoming part of his identity either. "Just like a nepo baby doesn't want to only be known as a nepo baby, I don't want to become the 'nepo baby guy,'" Jones says. "After the story blew up, I would get people asking me if I wanted to write a nepo baby book, and that was a no from me. I feel like I've said all I have to say on the subject. Or, 'almost all,'" he says. "I did respond to you, after all." But the conversation isn't fading, it's shifting. These stars didn't choose the nepo life and they're not fighting the label as hard as they once did. And with Hollywood still making space for them, why would they? Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Nepo is the new normal: How the kids of Hollywood A-listers started getting real and stopped fighting their family name
If you can't escape the shadow, step into it. That's the new way of the Hollywood nepo baby. Take Jack Henry Robbins, son of Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins, for example. He just landed a Hulu comedy series, aptly titled Nepo Baby, based on the viral character he created satirizing his own life as the child of celebrities. The series will riff on the nepo baby phenomenon popularized by New York magazine's 2022 cover story, which spotlighted how the children of stars often have a head start in Hollywood compared to those without connections. Jack, 36, wrote on Instagram that the character he created "was born from my deepest insecurity." However, embracing the role of "the world's worst nepo baby" — with assists from his parents and Steven Spielberg's daughter Sasha, who appeared in the social media series — "changed my life." Ireland Baldwin, daughter of Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger and an aspiring screenwriter, was quick to quip in the comments section, "I'm available." We've entered a nepo baby era that sees the latest crop of famous offspring embrace their lineages with a healthy dose of self-awareness. Like Ava Phillippe, daughter of Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe, who recently got behind the "holy freakin' airball" TikTok trend, where people share an incorrect assumption followed by a humblebrag. The brand ambassador/model/aspiring actress flexed about her mother's role as Elle Woods in Legally Blonde. The nepos, it seems, are exhibiting signs of acceptance, marking a noticeable shift from the Hollywood "nepo-verse" strongly opposing the label not so long ago. A cool nickname Hollywood has always been a famous family business. Michael Douglas, Jane Fonda, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ben Stiller, Gwyneth Paltrow and Robert Downey Jr. have last names that carry weight in the entertainment industry, with the pedigree to back it up. Their lineages were never a secret — nor were those of Kate Hudson, Angelina Jolie or Isabella Rossellini. But amid a broader cultural reckoning with privilege and access, a more blinding spotlight was shone on the connections of the younger crop of connected stars. Lily-Rose Depp, Jack Quaid, Zoë Kravitz, Maya Hawke, Maude Apatow, Kendall Jenner, Hailey Bieber and Kaia Gerber have all been dubbed "nepo babies" for their A-list relations. Yes, talent can run in a family, but so can connections. While these young stars have chops, they also have built-in access to agents and casting directors that the typical aspiring performer doesn't. Even if a nepo baby doesn't use a parent's connections directly, their last name alone provides intrigue, inviting them in the door that's closed for most everyone else. That's something not offered to the typical aspiring actor who's traveled to Hollywood with nothing. Are they under harsher scrutiny than the nepo babies before them? Definitely. In this age of 24/7 news coverage and social media, audiences are aware of their connections and New York magazine gave that awareness a name (or 'ugly moniker,' as Paltrow dubbed it). After all, culturally, entertainment consumers bear some blame for the public's long-running interest in star kids. Since some of them were born, they were staked out by paparazzi at the playground with their images filtered to celebrity magazines and websites. We've long been fascinated by them. Plus, we're in an era of Hollywood where originality is increasingly rare. Most movies are largely sequels, franchises or based on a popular toy, book or video game. In this risk-averse industry, the nepo baby fits right in. Instead of being an "unknown" talent, they come in already familiar to audiences. We've watched many of them grow up, seen them on red carpets with their famous parents. There's no need for introductions. Cue the outrage How the nepo babies responded to the branding was of their own successful or failed PR plan. At this point, practically everyone has been asked about it, but soon after the publication of the New York cover story, Lily-Rose Depp, the actress daughter of Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis, faced criticism for not "getting it." "People are going to have preconceived ideas about you or how you got there, and I can definitely say that nothing is going to get you the part except for being right for the part," The Idol actress told Elle in 2022. "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." Kendall Jenner, the model daughter of Kris Jenner and Caitlyn Jenner, was also called out of touch after she said that while she's "one of the luckiest people on the planet to be able to live the life that I live. … I do think that it's challenging for me a lot more than it's not." Zoë Kravitz, the actress/director daughter of Lenny Kravitz and Lisa Bonet, was also called tone deaf for her comments about it being "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." Theater Camp star Ben Platt, son of Legally Blonde producer Marc Platt, wouldn't even answer a question about being a nepo baby in 2023. His publicist intervened. Embracing the bloodline Amid the nepo backlash, Hailey Bieber — daughter of Stephen Baldwin and now wife of Justin Bieber — leaned into the controversy by wearing a shirt proudly bearing the label in 2023. She later told the Sunday Times, "That was me being, like, 'I'm very aware of the situation [and] I'm going to wear it loud and proud because you are already labeling me as such and it's true.'" Over the last year, as the nepo-ness of it all has settled, there's been more of an embrace of it by some. While Dakota Johnson, daughter of Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith, finds the whole conversation "annoying," "boring" and "lame," she did playfully parody it on Saturday Night Live, offering herself up as the punchline. She also recently talked about how her dad cut her off when she didn't get into Juilliard and she had to pound the pavement a bit. "It was hard to make money. There were a few times when I'd go to the market and not have money in my bank account or not be able to pay rent." The granddaughter of Hollywood royalty Tippi Hedren added, "I'd have to ask my parents for help." Patrick Schwarzenegger has called the label "frustrating" and talked about the "hundreds of rejected auditions" he had before landing his revealing White Lotus role. But then in June, he did an about-face, leaning into his scion status by doing a joint Variety interview with his dad and discussing — yes — nepotism. "There were times earlier in my career where I was wondering, does it make sense to go under an alias?" Patrick, son of Maria Shriver, admitted. Arnold said he was surprised to learn how difficult a time Patrick had because of his last name, saying, "To me, the name 'Schwarzenegger' always meant a big plus." Allison Williams, daughter of newsman Brian Williams, is also among the more self-aware nepo babies. The Girls alum told the Guardian, "Aside from all the many layers of privilege, high on the list is the fact that I could pursue a career in acting without being worried that I wasn't going to be able to feed myself." Kaia Gerber, the actress/model daughter of Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber, told WSJ last year, "I don't think it's a topic that will go away, so I've clearly reached a point of acceptance. I personally am very aware of all the wonderful things it has done for me, and I would never, ever say anything negative about it, because that is my truth about it." Her nepo baby boyfriend, Lewis Pullman, the son of Bill Pullman, also acknowledged that his father's fame allowed him many chances to "get comfortable in front of a camera" because it took him a long time to get there. However, part of it was trying to live up to his father's reputation. The Thunderbolts* actor said, "I felt a lot of pressure to fill his shoes. Once I realized that it was an impossible pair of shoes to fill, I kind of found a sense of relief in knowing that if there was any future for me in film that it would be by doing it my own way and trying to blaze my own trail." 'We're still talking about it' After their early comments on the topic weren't well-received, nepo babies adopted a new PR strategy. They've been owning the label more, so they're less weaponized by it. Besides, nearly three years after the New York article came out, the conversation about nepotism in Hollywood isn't going anywhere — just ask the guy who wrote the story. "We definitely knew we were going to cause a stir when we published the story," Vulture features writer Nate Jones tells Yahoo. "You don't Photoshop celebrities' heads onto babies without thinking it'll have some impact." "As far as 2025 goes," he continues, "I don't know if I was thinking that far ahead. But it makes sense that we're still talking about it, because this is a situation that can never really be resolved. On an individual level, nobody is actually doing anything wrong: It's not wrong to want to go into the same field as your parents, or to want your child to follow in your footsteps. It's only when you zoom out to the macro level that it becomes this conversation about wealth and privilege. And obviously structural inequality hasn't gone away in just three years, so it makes sense there's still some resentment towards them." Jones says he's been heartened to see some celebrities start to embrace it. "I feel like there was some hand-wringing in the nepo community after our story was published, like: What are we supposed to do? And I think that a few of them have started to model the best way to handle it, which is to be up front about it," he says. "You've just got to accept it and not be defensive. Because it's the being defensive that really brings the knives out." Jones says it's been "hard not to keep up with" the cultural conversation around nepo babies, "especially because a lot of very kind friends and acquaintances have the misconception that I invented the term [and] send me a link anytime it comes up." However, while he helped popularize the term, he didn't coin it — and he doesn't want it becoming part of his identity either. "Just like a nepo baby doesn't want to only be known as a nepo baby, I don't want to become the 'nepo baby guy,'" Jones says. "After the story blew up, I would get people asking me if I wanted to write a nepo baby book, and that was a no from me. I feel like I've said all I have to say on the subject. Or, 'almost all,'" he says. "I did respond to you, after all." But the conversation isn't fading, it's shifting. These stars didn't choose the nepo life and they're not fighting the label as hard as they once did. And with Hollywood still making space for them, why would they? Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Eva Amurri on Being Susan Sarandon's Daughter + Why She Quit Acting (EXCL)
Eva Amurri may have started out following in the footsteps of her mom, Susan Sarandon, as an actress, but since 2015, she's been primarily devoted to her lifestyle blog, Happily Eva After, and has won over a loyal audience for her honest takes on home design, fashion, beauty, relationships and motherhood. In her latest project, Amurri is taking her passion for design to the next level as she documents her process of renovating a Connecticut home from the ground up in a new online series. With The Westport Project now streaming on YouTube, the multitalented actress-turned-influencer sat down with Woman's World to discuss her foray into home renovation, finding work-life balance as a busy mom of three and the ways her famous mom has inspired her. Eva Amurri: I've had my brand, Happily Eva After, for a decade now, which is wild. Through the process of creating this online world, I realized a lot of what I've been doing in terms of marketing could be applied to real estate, because there's so much competition and a lot of what sells homes is actually about lifestyle. My business partner, Chris O'Dell, is the contractor who renovated my last home for two years, so that's definitely a make-it-or-break-it experience. You either come out of that hating each other or loving each other. We found all these ways that our values aligned, and he always had this dream to build an innovative home in Westport, which is a beautiful beach town. We purchased this property that's a complete teardown, but it gave us the opportunity to create a spec home and test out a lot of things and bring our different areas of expertise together. It's been really freeing in a lot of ways, because designing your own home, you can almost get too caught up in it. Being in the entertainment industry for so long, I've been around the luxury price point and had experience with designers, but what I want to do is mix that elevated style with the practicality that families need, and I want to do that all under the umbrella of a net-zero wellness-focused home. I think that the family that moves in is going to be very lucky, and to be honest, I'm envious! Our web series has something for everyone. It's not just for home renovation buffs. There's a reality show component that's like Fixer Upper meets Southern Charm, and you can get to know us. You can see the building of the house, but you can also see the Westport lifestyle and me interacting with my family. EA: I was acting for 15 years, but I was very unfulfilled. I actually felt like the industry was slowly killing me. It's not an easy place to be a woman. When I had my daughter, I suddenly realized that it would be really disingenuous for me to tell her to find fulfillment and do what makes her happy and respect herself but then not be that example for her. I wanted to live those words of advice, so I knew something had to change. I had to make a list of things that I enjoyed to figure out what my next steps would be. My now ex-husband looked at the list and said it looked like a lifestyle blog. At the time, I wasn't an expert at anything online. I had no idea how to code or blog or anything like that. I had this new baby at home, and I'd always loved writing, entertaining, design, crafting and cooking. My ex was like, 'You already do all these things. Why don't you start writing them down?' So I did, and it was a wildly uphill journey. I'd be trying to use Photoshop and doing YouTube tutorials until 2 a.m. and then press one button and everything I'd been working on would disappear, so I'd be sobbing in front of my computer and then my daughter would wake up early in the morning. It was definitely not glamorous in the beginning. I kept sharing, and I was consistent with it, and then I started writing longform pieces on topics that were a bit more taboo at the time. When I started, it was still the world of perfect little squares on Instagram. I started talking a lot about the hard parts of parenting and marriage and being a woman and mom guilt and sex after giving birth. Then I had a miscarriage, and I wrote about it publicly. That was when I noticed that my voice in this space was unique, and I've stayed true to myself throughout these 10 years. After a couple years blogging, the monetization and brand growth came and I signed with an agency, and the influencer boom happened. All throughout that process, I kept thinking that I wanted to create something concrete, so from there, I had an in-house lifestyle line for a while, and I launched my couch collection with Benchmade Modern last year. I've been looking for a way to meld my past life as an actress and my current life as a creator into one, so it's been really fun to do that through my new show. EA: Anyone who says that work-life balance is possible is lying. It's not entirely possible. I recently heard a quote about how we have all these balls in the air all the time, but some of them are glass and some of them are plastic, so you need to identify which of those you can't drop, and which of those you can afford to drop. That really resonated with me. I try to be gentle with myself and know that it's not going to be perfect all the time. There will be some months that lean more towards work and some that lean away from that. I'm a perfectionist. I'm the oldest daughter of seven kids, so you can imagine how type-A I am. I'm working on letting go, because there's no perfect mother and there's no perfect family, and all of us are just doing the best we can. I think now that my kids are getting older they've internalized that a lot more as well, and I'm proud that they see me working and doing what I love while also being their mom. EA: I've gotten back into playing tennis regularly. I played as a teenager and let it go, but recently, I've been playing weekly with a group of women for an hour and a half. It's been so fun to have that social aspect, and I just turned 40, so I'm trying to be consistent with exercise. I'm very independent. Having a big family, my concern has been maintaining the alone time that recharges me. My husband is great about helping me find those pockets of time where I can get away for a walk or grab a coffee or go to the beach. I love reading and I almost never have time to read recreationally. Having an hour on a Saturday morning while my husband plays with the kids in the yard and I sit in bed with a cup of tea and my book is unreal. That's my idea of self-care. EA: A lot of the stereotypes around that exist for a reason, but there's a spectrum within the experience of living in the public eye. It can be quite humbling, and if you use it as an opportunity to keep great people close to you and see who your true friends are, it can be a way to grow and keep a safe community for yourself. In a lot of ways, I'm lucky to be doing this job now, because I'm so comfortable in front of the camera. If anything, being in the public eye has shown me, and is now showing my kids, that nobody really knows everything about you. People have the lens that they see you through, and there isn't much you can do to change that. It's all about knowing your truth and experience and knowing that people's perceptions of you will come and go, but nobody really has your number the way that they think you do. EA: She always showed me that it's possible to be a mom and do what you're passionate about and work outside of home. I feel fortunate that I was able to see my mom have this big career while also having such a close relationship with her kids, and I think that gave me the confidence to do that same thing. Obviously my mom and I are in very different businesses now, but having her as an example has really made me a lot less hard on myself, because I've seen another woman go through the trials and tribulations of being a busy working mom. One thing that I really admire about my childhood was that my mom would always make every single holiday and experience so special. She went all out and was always there, even if she was filming on nights and weekends. Our house was always the place where everything happened. It was so magical, and I cherish all those memories. I've recreated that with my own family. I love hosting, and a large part of my lifestyle brand was born out of that experience and the joy of gathering people and the beautiful memories that it creates. I come from a blended family, and now I have a blended family of my own. Having people come together in a mishmash modern family way was always happening when I was growing up, and now that's very much the case in my own family. Ever since my ex-husband and I split up, we've continued to spend holidays together with the kids, and now his girlfriend comes along, and my siblings from both sides with my mom and my dad come together to visit. I think it shows my kids that love is what makes a family, and that it's important to stay flexible. EA: I would tell myself to take more risks. I was always so worried about trying things that I didn't know I was going to be successful at. I wish that I had pushed myself outside of the box more. I was concerned about being financially independent from a young age, and then I became a mom before I was even 30, so everything suddenly felt much heavier and more important. I wish that I had left the acting industry sooner and had the courage to stop doing something that wasn't fulfilling me. When I was younger, I saw myself as needing to have a more stable world. Looking back from 40, I can see that I really didn't, and I wish that I had given myself the grace of making a few more mistakes. Read on for more exclusive celebrity interviews! Jenna Johnson Chmerkovskiy Reveals Mental Health Journey and Fitness Secrets (EXCLUSIVE) Queen Latifah on Happiness, Health and Rediscovering Life at 55: 'This Is Just the Beginning' (EXCLUSIVE) Carnie Wilson's Guilty Pleasures: 'My Favorite Thing is Getting That Bra off and in My Jammies' (EXCL)
Yahoo
06-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Patou Spring 2026: Joy Through the Day
'Joy always has a plan B,' said Patou's artistic director Guillaume Henry, describing his fictional character of the season as an 'outdoor woman' who is equally comfortable indoors. That was a good thing given that the rain clouds looming over a post-heat wave Paris prompted a move of the show from the gardens of the Maison de la Chimie to the house's oh-so-Parisian interiors, geometric parquet flooring, plaster mouldings and all. More from WWD Rene Caovilla Introduces Opulent Couture Capsule Collection The Parisian Ball of 2025 Reveals Its Honorary Committee Pasquale Bruni Channels Renewal and Mindfulness in New 'Luce' Collection As front row guest Susan Sarandon put it in a skit dropped on Instagram earlier in the day, 'who the h–l is Joy?' Despite sharing a name with the house's historic bestselling scent, his fictional muse of the season doesn't herald its imminent return, Henry said. If the wardrobe the designer imagined is anything to go by, she's a busy bee who doesn't have time for outfit changes, expecting her sporty chic looks to work overtime from dawn to dusk. The opening look, a straight black pinafore minidress with a pair of roomy patch pockets on the front, certainly fit the bill. In pursuit of 'fresh air, breathing room and lightness,' the designer imagined an encounter with house founder Jean Patou and his love of Art Deco lines and Christian Lacroix, who filled the house with feminine shapes and polka dots during his six-year tenure that began in 1981. Cue a fusion with his proclivity for sporty knits, cropped proportions and utilitarian jackets that yielded long collarless styles with a gentle hourglass outline and versions with plunging trapeze necklines; shift dresses that could be dressed up or down with a canny change in accessories, and puffy skirts that came in anything from fine gray suiting to layered lace and exuberant peony prints — with pockets, of course. A final trio gave a then-and-now vision of evening glamour, between floor-length bustier dresses and a lace bodysuit nodding to Sabrina Carpenter's custom Patou look during her 'Short n' Sweet Tour.' While continuing to build on the unfussy chic direction of the Henry era, the collection was in step with the dressier direction that emerged from June's coed runways. Launch Gallery: Patou Fall 2025 Couture Collection Best of WWD Windowsen RTW Spring 2022 Louis Shengtao Chen RTW Spring 2022 Vegan Fashion Week Returns to L.A. With Nous Etudions, Vegan Tiger on the Runway
