Top 10 Times Nepo Babies Didn't Beat the Allegations

David & Victoria Beckham
As the eldest son of power couple David and Victoria Beckham, Brooklyn was first poised to have a football career like his father by signing as a youth player with Arsenal. However, after that and modeling both didn’t pan out, he turned to photography. Brooklyn’s name got him to jump ahead of seasoned professionals to work with Burberry, causing outrage from photographers. He then attempted to get a degree in the subject but soon gave that up. Around this time, Brooklyn signed a publishing deal and released a book of his photographs, which, to mention the elephant in the room, wasn’t well received. Next on his agenda was cooking, despite having no training. Brooklyn developed a show about his cheffing exploits, which was also criticized.

Muammar Gaddafi
When someone takes over as a dictator, they usually position their relatives into positions of power and influence. Well, that’s exactly what Muammar Gaddafi did when he controlled Libya. One of his most interesting nepotism acts was installing his son Al-Saadi as a footballer, even making him captain of the national team and president of the LFF. Gaddafi’s influence also allowed Al-Saadi to play in Italy. However, a failed doping test and his apparent lack of skills meant he wasn’t successful. As such, he only made a couple of appearances over 4 years there. When sport dried up, Al-Saadi was handed various governmental positions. After the fall of his father’s reign, Al-Saadi was eventually locked up in 2014. In 2021, he was released.

J.J. Abrams
Getting into comic books can be really hard. So, you can imagine the outrage when someone skips the queue based on their name. In 2019, Marvel began promoting a 4 made from webbing. Fans immediately got excited that they were set to announce a fourth edition to Sam Raimi’s trilogy. Instead, it was a countdown that led to the announcement that Henry and his filmmaking father, J.J. Abrams, would co-write a Spider-Man comic story called “Bloodline”. Fan enthusiasm deflated and largely morphed into frustration. There’s speculation that J.J. had little to do with it beyond lending his name, leaving most of the creative work to his son. To make it worse, the story wasn’t well-received by many Spidey fans.

Lori Loughlin & Mossimo Giannulli
As the daughter of actor Lori Loughlin and fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, Olivia Jade was able to use her fame to gain celebrity through social media. But then, in 2019, a far more serious form of nepotism came to light when the Varsity Blues scandal was announced. Wealthy parents had bribed a service to get their offspring into college through fraudulent means. Olivia Jade and her sister were recipients of the service. Loughlin and Giannulli allegedly paid $500,000 to make their daughters seem like competitive rowers to the University of Southern California. Loughlin was sentenced to 2 months in jail, and Giannulli got 5 months. To this day, it’s hard not to associate Olivia with her nepo background.

Tom Hanks & Rita Wilson
In 2023, when Tom Hanks was asked about the nepotism in his lineage, he dismissed the term and described acting as the “family business.” This is mostly true since all of his children have performed on screen at some point. Some have been successful, like Colin. Chet, though, is another matter. His career has struggled due to various personal issues and controversies. On top of substance problems, there were abuse allegations from an ex in 2021. That same year, Chet mocked people who had the COVID-19 vaccine and dismissed the disease’s severity. Also, in 2021, he released the rap “White Boy Summer,” which was accused of being rather problematic. To make matters worse, the song was co-opted by extremist groups.

The Kennedy Family
If you’re a Kennedy in politics, one thing is guaranteed: winning elections in Massachusetts. Well, except if you’re Joe, apparently. The family has held some of the biggest governmental positions, including the presidency with John F. Kennedy. Joe seemingly followed a similar path to his great-uncle by becoming the US representative for Massachusetts's 4th congressional district from 2013 until 2021. Yet in 2020, he ran for the Democratic nomination in the Massachusetts US Senate election. Joe, who was criticized for not explaining why he ran, ended up losing to Ed Markey, becoming the first Kennedy to lose an election in the state. But his political career didn’t end there. In 2022, Joe became the US Special Envoy for Northern Ireland.

The Baldwin Family
The Baldwin family is one of the most influential groups in Hollywood. As a result, they’ve produced several nepo babies in various entertainment industries. One of them is Stephen Baldwin’s daughter, Hailey. She started working in the modeling industry, and also married singer Justin Bieber in 2018. In 2023, when social media was awash with criticism about nepo babies, Hailey decided to walk outside with a t-shirt that had the term written on it. Luckily, a photographer happened to get a snap. However, the critique of the stunt was brutal. Some even stated Hailey wasn’t famous enough to be considered a product of nepotism. Yikes. At the 96th Academy Awards, host Jimmy Kimmel even took shots at her for the nepotism label.

John Landis
As the son of controversial filmmaker John Landis, Max would follow his father in both capacities. As a teenager, he sold his first script, an episode of “Masters of Horror,” which just happened to be co-written with and directed by John. Next was an episode in “Fear Itself.” While John didn’t direct it, he did helm another episode of the show. Max’s creation also never aired. From there, he continued writing, making a YouTube channel, and acting occasionally. But in 2013, the wheels of his career began falling off after accusations of misogyny during an interview. Then, in 2017, he was accused of assault. In 2019, 8 women came forward with stories about Max’s abuse, causing his management team to drop him.

Will & Jada Pinkett Smith
In 2006, Jaden was cast as his father’s character’s son in “The Pursuit of Happyness.” However, this wasn’t the first big dose of nepotism for being the child of Will and Jada Pinkett Smith. “All of Us,” a show co-created and co-produced by the couple in 2003, saw Jaden appear in a recurring role. After some more acting in the Smiths co-produced 2010 film “Karate Kid,” Jaden starred alongside his father in the 2013 sci-fi movie “After Earth.” It was critically panned, with fury notably directed at the nepotism. The reaction was so bad that both father and son won Golden Raspberry Awards. Over the years, Will has rebuked accusations that Jaden was cast in “The Pursuit of Happyness” due to nepotism.

Johnny Depp & Vanessa Paradis
In 2022, Lily-Rose drew the ire of the public by downplaying the advantages she received as a nepo baby and implied the expression was sexist. Of course, people pointed at her famous acting parents, Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis, and made an exasperated sigh. She had risen in the catwalk ranks due at least in part to her mother’s connection to the fashion world. So others, namely model Vittoria Ceretti, were livid. Depp also compared her life to those who become doctors like their parents, seemingly equating nepo babies’ experiences to the years of training medical professionals undergo. Lily-Rose has acted over the years, just like her mom and dad. In 2023, she walked back her comments, admitting that her childhood was different from most.


Which nepo baby beat the label and made a name for themselves? Let us know below!