As the term ‘nepo baby’ (or children with famous or notable parents) continues to trend on social media, one of Gen Z’s most recognizable nepotism models— Kaia Gerber— shared her thoughts on the enduring buzzword.
Speaking to Elle Magazine, she acknowledged how having famous parents (supermodel Cindy Crawford and businessman Rande Gerber) was beneficial in her modeling career, but not when she wanted to pursue acting. This, as seen on Twitter, rubbed fans the wrong way, with many writing to the model, 21, expressing their qualms with her latest interview.
READ MORE: Hailey Bieber Wears Her ‘Nepo Baby’ Label With Pride In A Crop Top With The Phrase On It
Kaia Gerber knows she’s a nepo baby—but she declines to give into the negative connotation associated with the now-trending term. https://t.co/0Z8o0fm34B
— Yahoo Life (@yahoolife) January 28, 2023
Kaia Gerber Sits Down With Elle And Discusses Nepotism (And Her Famous Mother)
“I won’t deny the privilege that I have,” Gerber began in her Elle sit-down, explaining that her mother’s iconic status in the modeling world made her a helpful source for “great advice” and helped her meet important people.
“That alone I feel very fortunate for,” she went on, remembering that Crawford “always joked, ‘If I could call and book a Chanel campaign, it would be for me and not you.’”
Kaia Gerber on nepotism: ‘I won’t deny the privilege that I have’ https://t.co/IQZaT6CNMK pic.twitter.com/nwg0NcssKv
— Kaiser@Celebitchy (@KaiseratCB) January 25, 2023
What really seemed to ruffle feathers were Gerber’s comments about her acting career, and how she implied that her roles in huge Hollywood productions (such as Ryan Murphy’s hit show American Horror Story and the Oscar-nominated film Babylon) were only obtained through hard work all on her own.
“No artist is going to sacrifice their vision for someone’s kid.”https://t.co/gRQJk1HRh8
— Paper Magazine (@papermagazine) January 26, 2023
“With acting, it’s so different. No artist is going to sacrifice their vision for someone’s kid. That just isn’t how art is made, and what I’m interested in is art,” Gerber said before adding that while “nepotism is prevalent” in Hollywood, “if it actually was what people make it out to be, we’d see even more of it.”
“Someone’s kid” is a nice way to cleanse “a rich and influential Hollywood power player’s kid.”
— art tavana (@arttavana) January 25, 2023
Gerber Criticized For ‘Tone Deaf’ And ‘Hypocritical’ Nepo Comments
After Gerber’s interview hit the internet, one user tweeted, “Someone’s kid’ is a nice way to cleanse ‘a rich and influential Hollywood power player’s kid,'” while another accused Gerber of being a ‘hypocrite’ by tweeting, “so ryan murphy really wanted the characters he wrote to have an unseasoned performance like hers, is that was she saying?”
Kaia Gerber on nepotism in modeling and how “it’s so different” with acting pic.twitter.com/Uwe71a6Uy3
— MODELS (@ModelsFacts) January 25, 2023
Another chimed in, deeming Gerber ‘tone deaf’ and ‘beyond privileged’ for her acting roles as someone else wrote, “enough nepotism babies. kaia gerber can’t act and i refuse to pretend otherwise.” Someone else also commented on her acting, “nepotism should stop with kaia gerber she’s one of the worst actresses i’ve ever seen.”
The model doesn’t deny her privilege, but she does think nepotism in Hollywood could be worse. https://t.co/SfQ4fv2i7a
— W Magazine (@wmag) February 3, 2023
Another suggested that Gerber should “stick to modeling” after seeing her in Babylon as someone else asked, following her interview, “is she serious?”
