John Sturgis

There’s nothing new about ‘nepo babies’

Where aristocrats led, celebrities have followed

  • From Spectator Life
Actress Lily Collins, daughter of Phil [Getty]

One of the neologisms of 2022 was the phrase ‘nepo baby’. Short for ‘nepotism baby’, it was coined by younger people, the so-called Gen Z, to describe the syndrome of the increased attention and opportunity afforded to the children of celebrities – in practice giving them a leg-up into a career in modelling, acting or singing. 

A curious aspect of the trend is that these newly cynical youths are only belatedly realising that many of the young stars in their firmament have famous parents: Lily Collins of Emily in Paris, for example, is the daughter of the rather-better-known-to-their-parents Phil.  

But it’s only the term itself that is new. The syndrome has been around, and growing, for decades: celebrities are the modern aristocracy and this strange alternative honours system is becoming increasingly hereditary.

The second half of the 20th century saw the old great aristocratic families going into steep decline. Hereditary peerages stopped being doled out. Stately homes were taken over by the National Trust, demolished, turned into flats or reinvented as safari parks while their owners drifted into relative destitution, heroin addiction or reality TV stardom.  

This demise of the aristocracy was intended to herald a levelling, a new egalitarianism, a more meritocratic age. But instead of being fascinated by high-society dating, marriages and – better yet – divorces, the gossip columns merely became obsessed with footballers, pop stars and models as their successors. 

We used to revere the scions of our great houses – and gossip about them too. Now we do the same about the actors that play them

We used to revere the scions of our great houses – and gossip about them too. Now we do the same about the actors that play them. We’ve gone from whispering ‘I’ve heard that Lady Mary Crawley was enjoying congress with a Turk who died in her bedchamber’ to ‘Apparently that mystery actor who wanted Wayne Rooney’s hooker to xxxx his xxxxx is actually Xxxx Xxxxxx’.

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