Latest news with #TikTokTrend
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Forget stealth wealth and quiet luxury—now Gen Z nepo babies are bragging about their generational wealth on TikTok
In an era when billionaires are becoming increasingly flashy, so too are their children. Welcome to 'Holy Airball'. TikTok's latest trend has Gen Z nepo babies flaunting what their wealthy family do for a living—from Reese Witherspoon's daughter to an Airbnb mogul's kid. The days of stealth wealth and quiet luxury are well and truly over. Instead, the wealthiest kids on the block are proudly boasting about what their billionaire parents did to get rich. The latest TikTok videos all follow the same formula: A person shares a statement, the next slide is a misconception often leveled at them, and follow-up slides reveal the more impressive truth. Or rather, the 'holy airball' moment—a basketball term for when someone takes a shot and misses the basket. Take Reese Witherspoon's daughter, Ava. The 25-year-old just posted about the movie that made her mum famous. 'I told him my mum's a lawyer, and he said, 'Oh what firm does she work at?'' she wrote. Then she cut to a behind-the-scenes photo of her and her Oscar-winning mum on the set of Legally Blonde, where Witherspoon plays a lawyer and wrote 'Holy-fricking air ball'. The video's now received 2 million views and counting. The offspring of Hollywood legend Martin Scorsese and rapper Akon also jumped on the chance to shout out about their family legacies. And it's not just celebrity's kids that are getting in on the action: Kids of successful executives and founders are humble bragging their parents corporate gigs too, including the daughter of the My Super Sweet 16 show creator, an Airbnb mogul's daughter, an Anthropologie candle designer's kid, the heir to the A list drumming company, Zildjian and more. But there's a catch: Many TikTok accounts are capitalizing off their welll-known last names, but some aren't legitimately linked to the famous brands. The supposed 'heirs' of the Buc-ee's convenience store, Marriott and Folgers have come out of the woodwork. TikTok accounts for both Greyson Abercrombie and Gracie Abercrombie have separately claimed their parents own Abercrombie. However, whether or not they're related to the brand's brainchild, the founder, David Abercrombie, sold the company in 1907. An Abigail McDonald, similarly jokingly claimed her family owns McDonald's. Gen Zers bragging about their parents' wealth may be better off forging their own path to one day brag about. That's because despite expecting to come into an $84 trillion wealth transfer in the coming decades, actually, a rising number of ultra-wealthy retirees are opting to take their wealth to the grave. It's not that the generation has just forgotten about their young loved ones. Research from financial services company Northwestern Mutual shows that 60% do have a will in place—but their children and grandchildren are more likely to find funeral instructions in it than cash or the deed to their family home. In fact, over half of the boomers are explicitly planning not to leave an inheritance behind. And just one-fifth of baby boomers expect to leave anything behind. It comes as a growing cohort of people are trying to die with zero—essentially, enjoy all their wealth while they are alive and die with $0 in their bank account. Sting famously told his six kids he plans to spend his millions instead of leaving it to them. Celebrity chef Gordan Ramsay has echoed that he's 'definitely' not leaving his fortune to his six children; the most they will get out of him is a 25% deposit towards a flat—which is similar to many middle class Gen Z and millennial home owners today. Likewise, Laurene Powell Jobs, wife of the late Apple founder Steve Jobs, said the billions she inherited from her husband won't be passed on to the three children they shared. Jobs, estimated to have been worth approximately $7 billion when he died in 2011. His wife told the New York Times: 'If I live long enough, it ends with me.' This story was originally featured on
Fast Company
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Fast Company
Feeling down? TikTok says: Make a fan edit of yourself
Feeling bad about your appearance? Try making a fan edit of yourself. That's the latest advice circulating on TikTok, where users are cutting and stitching together dramatic clips of themselves to the tune of Rasheeda's 2006 track Got That Good. And it seems to work. One viral video, with 10 million views, has people hyping up the creator in the comments. 'WHO IS THAT DIVA?' one wrote. 'Chill out my bf is on this app,' another added. In another video, with 5.6 million views, the creator wrote, 'Feel ugly? Make an edit with yourself to boost your confidence.' Again, the internet responded with compliments, and many saying they are going to try the trend for themselves. 'This was my favorite activity as a high schooler,' one commented. 'Made one yesterday and can't stop looking at it,' another wrote. 'Hold on wait I'm gonna try this but I'm afraid it would raise my ego through the roof.' The trend is meant to boost creators' confidence by giving themselves a fan edit normally reserved for the likes of Harry Styles, Timothée Chalamet, and other beloved celebrities. Fan edits have long been a cornerstone of fandom and online culture. They are also an art form, with dramatic music, flashy transitions, and glowing filters that show the subjects at their most attractive and iconic. But why should celebrities be the only ones who get the fan-cam treatment? It's no secret that social media is a highlight reel. Yet even when we know Instagram is not real life, the constant exposure to filtered photos and curated feeds can take a toll on our self-image. Research backs this up. One 2021 study found that frequent Instagram use is linked to higher rates of body dissatisfaction, a stronger desire to be thin, and lower self-esteem among girls ages 14 to 24.
News.com.au
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
‘Using it to brag': The children of the rich and famous are dividing by jumping on a viral trend
The privileged offspring of the rich and famous have finally found a social media trend where they can flaunt their nepotism. Pretty much every week there is a new trend taking over TikTok, but the latest 'air ball' trend has caught the attention of nepo babies. It's pretty simple. An air ball is a basketball term for when a player shoots and misses, and Gen Zers are using the reference to make TikToks about when someone makes an assumption about them and completely misses the mark. It started out pretty wholesome. Someone might share a time when someone assumed they didn't run and then reveal a photo of them coming first in a marathon or a woman might reveal she'd told a man she worked in a hospital and he assumed she was a nurse, but the mic drop would be that she's a neurosurgeon. Then entered the nepo babies, who are using the trend, not to flex about their own achievements, but share when people haven't realised they're either from a famous or rich family. Ryan Phillippe and Reese Witherspoon's lookalike daughter, Ava, 25, took to social media and joined the trend. The 25-year-old took to social media and name-dropped, not just her famous mum, but her most famous movie. 'I told him my mum's a lawyer, and he said, 'Oh what firm does she work at?'' she wrote. Then she cut to a behind-the-scenes photo of her and her Oscar winning mum on the set of Legally Blonde, where Witherspoon plays a lawyer and wrote 'Holy-fricking air ball'. That clip has over 2 million views, and the most liked comment on the video is 'You won this trend,' with over 30,000 likes. Similarly, another famous offspring, Alianna Thiam, jumped on the trend and wrote, 'I told him my dad's in the music industry. He said, 'Oh, like a manager?' Then, the clip was cut to a photo to reveal that her dad is the musician Akon. 'Holy-freaking-air ball,' she wrote. Once again, the most liked comment on the clip is 'Pack it up everyone, she won,' with over 70,000 likes. Even the children of famous Aussies are getting into the trend. Madi Page wrote, 'I told him my dad works in the music and entertainment industry. 'He said, 'Oh, cute like a producer?'' Then she revealed her dad was Greg Page from The Wiggles. 'That's the flexiest flex I've seen. What's it like being the child of royalty?,' the most liked comment asked. It also isn't just the children of famous people embracing the trend, it's also the offspring of the incredibly wealthy and powerful. Greyson Abercrombie, 20, wrote on TikTok, 'Told her 'my parents own a clothing store' and she said 'oh so like a boutique?'' Then the video cuts to himself standing outside an Abercrombie store one of the largest retail chains in America. Similarly, Shayla Forbes-Luong shared online, 'Told him my family owns a magazine company, 'oh like a local paper?'' Then, the video cuts to a photo of Forbes Magazine, the magazine her great-grandfather co-founded, with the words 'air ball' written across the photo. The most liked comment on that video, which has 16 million views, reads, 'Okay, but did you guys see Akon's daughter do the trend? I'm living for these quiet nepotism babies.' It amassed over 200,000 likes. Popular fashion and culture Instagram account Diet Prada, which has over 3 million followers, posted about the trend and claimed it is proof that 'stealth wealth' is officially out and bragging is very much in. 'From old-money dynasties to household names, the app is suddenly crawling with twenty-somethings using the moment to humblebrag their family legacies,' the post reads. The post was divided, with some claiming it was fun to see people revealing their famous families and others finding it 'cringe' tone deaf. 'I kind of live for this' one wrote. 'Congrats on your parent's accomplishments very cool,' another mocked. 'As subtle as a gold Rolex flex, congratulations on being born I guess,' another claimed. 'These people have everything yet are so desperate for attention,' someone else said. 'I love this,' one praised. 'This makes me nauseous!' someone else revealed. 'Taking a trend where people proudly share their own accomplishments and using it to brag about your family's success that has nothing to do with you? Exactly the kind of tone-deaf behaviour I'd expect from nepo babes,' one snapped. 'As they SHOULD. Imagine hating someone because their successful parents decided to have kids,' someone else argued.
Fast Company
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Fast Company
Nepo babies are using the ‘holy airball' TikTok trend to humble brag about their famous parents
The 'holy airball' trend that's all over your For You page is the latest way the internet is sharing humble brags. The videos, which have amassed millions of views on TikTok over the past few weeks, follow the same formula: a person shares a statement, the next slide is an assumption often leveled at them, followed by the more impressive truth. The videos are soundtracked to 'Soul Survivor' by Jeezy featuring Akon, and the final slide always references the now viral phrase holy airball —a basketball term for when someone takes a shot and misses the basket. Many have used the trend to brag about their achievements or joke about their unexpected personality traits or life circumstances. An example would be if someone assumes that your family owns a local store, but your family actually own a huge conglomerate. As the trend has gained momentum, the nepo babies have now entered the chat. 'Told him my mom's a lawyer,' Ava Phillipe wrote in a TikTok video posted on Monday. 'He said 'oh, what firm does she work at.' The following slides are of the Elle Woods from the 2001 film Legally Blonde. Reese Witherspoon, who played Woods, is Phillipe's mother. 'Told him my dad was in the music industry,' Alianna Thiam wrote in a TikTok posted last week. 'He said 'Oh like a manager?' Next are pictures of Thiam with her father, the singer Akon. 'Bro literally made the trend,' she added. Akon cowrote and is featured on the song that accompanies the trend. 'The fact this trend is to his song is iconic for you,' one person commented. 'Trend over, you win,' another added. A third example comes from the TikTok account of Francesca Scorsese. 'I told him 'my dad is a filmmaker,' she wrote. No prizes for guessing who appears on the following slide. 'Ok we can't top this y'all,' one comment read. Other TikTok accounts are capitalizing off their famous last names and confusing the internet in the process. There's Abigail McDonald, who wrote 'told him my family owns a food place' / he said, 'oh so like a small business.'' The next slide shows an image of the fast-food chain McDonald's. A TikTok account for Gracie Abercrombie posted, 'told him 'my family owns a clothing store.' The next slide is a photo of the popular clothing store Abercrombie & Fitch.
Fast Company
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Fast Company
9-to-5 jobs, ChatGPT, and preventive Botox: Gen Z is not falling for any of this ‘propaganda' in 2025
A new TikTok trend, set to a snippet of Charli XCX's 'I Think About It All the Time' featuring Bon Iver, sees users, particularly Gen Z women, sharing lists of 'propaganda' they're not falling for in 2025. One list, shared by TikTok creator Lxyzfbxx, includes the 'clean girl look,' 'the normalization of OF [OnlyFans],' and 'preventative Botox,' among other things. Another user listed 'organic deodorant,' 'Teslas,' and 'mouth tape' among the modern-day propaganda. A third user included 'push-up bras,' 'being anti-sunscreen,' and 'branded sweatshirts.' A fourth took aim at 'working,' 'a 9-5,' and 'employment.' From social media trends to beauty standards, internet users are drawing attention to the capitalist, political, and aesthetic pressures that they're subjected to daily, and they are de-normalizing those they see as unhealthy, undesirable, or just cringe. 'Propaganda I won't be falling for': How did the trend start? While it's hard to pinpoint exactly where the trend began, it's clear that it's caught on: If there's one thing social media loves, it's a hot take—and it can be on anything from working a full-time job to singer-songwriter Benson Boone. For instance, 2024 was the year of the 'in' and 'out' lists. Now, with the hashtag 'propaganda' currently at over 240,000 posts on TikTok, we have the 2025 version of a similar trend. However, what is and what isn't propaganda varies wildly, depending on whom you ask. The comments section below many of these videos is a hotbed for debate. 'Sorry but i WILL be falling for the Labubu propaganda everytime,' one person commented under a list that included the viral dolls. 'I hate to admit it but Dubai chocolate is soooo bomb,' another commented under a propaganda list that included the pistachio-flavored chocolate. Take these opinions with a rather large pinch of salt. One frequent name that appears on many of these lists is singer-songwriter Gracie Abrams. Does that mean the poster actually dislikes Abrams's music? Not necessarily. As one TikTok user told The New York Times: 'I think sometimes the internet just likes to have a running gag.' (Jumping on the Gracie Abrams hate train, in other words, might just be good for views.) Casey Lewis, of the youth consumer trends newsletter After School, did the legwork and tallied up the most commonly mentioned 'propaganda' across hundreds of TikToks. The top 10 list she compiled included matcha, the tradwife movement, MAHA-adjacent trends like beef tallow and anti-seed oil, author Colleen Hoover, and milk (both of the oat and cow variety). Coming in at the No. 1 spot, to no one's surprise, is ChatGPT.
