Lily Allen Responds After Receiving Backlash For Defending “nepo Babies”
5 min readRecently, actress Lily Allen addressed nepotism in Hollywood in the wake of New York magazine’s cover story “Year of the Nepo Baby. Nepo babies are children who have famous parents. As Allen shared on Twitter, critics should not worry so much about the children of Hollywood celebrities, but rather about the “nepo babies” who work in politics, banks, and legal firms, and have “real world consequences” by robbing people of opportunity. A starkid herself, the actress said she was the first to say she ‘literally deserved nothing’ despite being a starkid.
Lily Allen responds after receiving backlash for defending “nepo babies.” pic.twitter.com/8jUXKdHzsp
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) December 20, 2022
As well, she replied to a Twitter user who asked why the actress’ parents’ names appear on Wikipedia with blue links. Once again, Allen proudly referred to herself as a “nepo baby” while praising her parents for being “talented.” The actress is the daughter of Alison Owen, a film producer, and Keith Allen, an actor. According to her now-viral statement, starkids are often neglected and deprived of love by Hollywood stars. The artist also mentioned that these children sometimes suffer from “childhood trauma” due to the unfriendly environment in the entertainment industry. The online debate was sparked by Lily Allen’s remarks regarding “nepo babies.”
And before you come at me for being a nepo baby myself, I will be the first to tell you that I literally deserve nothing. https://t.co/tnrz8v8OsF
— Lily A (@lilyallen) December 19, 2022
An Insight Into Lily Allen’s Background And Family
Her parents, film producer Alison Owen and Welsh actor Keith Allen welcomed her into the world on 2nd May 1985. Her siblings Sarah and Rebecca grew up with her brother Alfie, a Game of Thrones actor who portrays Theon Greyjoy. Besides being Angela McCluskey’s goddaughter, Allen is Sam Smith’s third cousin. Her first appearance on screen was in an episode of The Comic Strip Presents… as a child artist, according to IMDb. When Allen was four years old, Keith reportedly left the family. After her mother started dating comedian Harry Enfield, her family moved in with him.
Anyway, enough internets for today, I am abandoning my post as chief nepo baby defender. Have a wonderful rest of your day.
— Lily A (@lilyallen) December 20, 2022
Look, I seem to have riled people up with my comments about nepo babies. I am nearly 40 years of age and am more than happy, in fact I think it’s important to disclose what a privileged upbringing I’ve had and how that has created so many opportunities for me,
— Lily A (@lilyallen) December 20, 2022
According to old interviews, the Not Fair hitmaker also suffered abandonment issues after leaving Enfield’s house following his breakup with her mother in 1989. The Telegraph reported that Allen’s relationship with her biological father has been strained for some time and that they haven’t spoken. She also mentioned that her mother continues to be supportive of her career choices and decisions. In addition to Elizabeth, the actress appeared in How to Build a Girl, which was directed by her mother. Additionally, Lily Allen has two children of her own and is a proud mother. Her daughters Marnie and Ethel are from her previous relationship with Sam Cooper, and she is currently married to David Harbour, the star of Stranger Things.
‘Nepotism’ Comments From Lily Allen Cause Twitter To React
In light of the growing discussion surrounding nepotism in Hollywood, the “Smile” singer, the daughter of actor Keith Allen and film producer Alison Owen, recently spoke out about nepotism. Recently, Lily Allen criticized critics of “nepo babies” or children of Hollywood celebrities on Twitter. People often refer to “nepotism babies” as the children of famous people who go on to work in the same fields as their parents. It’s okay, go have those discussions, no one’s going to stop it,” a Twitter user commented. However, the DIRECT BENEFICIARIES of problematic systems shouldn’t distract me from my focus when they point in the opposite direction and say, Look over there!
The creative industries are overflowing with people only there because of their parents.
— Miki Clem Fandango 🟪⬜🟩 (@MikiB007) December 20, 2022
Lily Allen is defending something she's benefited from, while working class talent remains ignored & undiscovered.
Nepotism is either ok or it's not.
It can't be both. #LilyAllen #nepo pic.twitter.com/CxFAZHprqg
In another comment, another user commented that Lily Allen’s dad is an actor and her mom is a movie producer. Her dad helped Lily Allen land her first record contract. For one day, be serious. Responding to backlash online, Allen stated that her success in the entertainment industry was “deserved” and that she had worked “extremely hard” to establish a career. As she reflected on her music career, the performer said that her songs became popular as people became “connected” to them. Her early success was also attributed to her family, despite having “fraught relationships” with some of them. It is admitted that the entertainment industry lacks representation in terms of race and class, but Lily Allen argues that nepo babies are frequently scapegoated.
lily allen’s dad is an actor and her mom is a movie producer and got signed to her first record deal with her dad’s connections. be serious for one day https://t.co/OjSIkDXQJ2
— a woman in trouble (@ohheysimone) December 19, 2022
Lily I love you but as a person who has absolutely 0 connections to the industry (wanting to be screenwriter) it infuriates me to see these nepo babies taking opportunities they haven’t earnt & this has consequences: it limits diversity in creativity which impacts on equality
— Madeleine Pavitt (@MadsiePavitt) December 20, 2022
Says the daughter of an actor, and film producer, attended the most expensive private schools in the UK, one of which was the school attended by king Charles III. The working class have been sharp elbowed out of the arts by cosplayers such as you, and used as props when needed.
— Nathan Jones (@NathanJ25434261) December 20, 2022
A lot of celebrities are nepo babies to an extent. If not through their parents then through friends parents etc. I always thought Lily Allen was some hard working working class girl but she literally went to hill house & millfield lol
— The Aristocrass (@TheAristocrass) December 20, 2022