At the end of 2022, the term ‘nepo baby’ took the Internet by storm. Short for ‘nepotism baby’, it speaks of children who are perceived to benefit positively from their parent’s fame and connections throughout various industries. While discussions of nepotism in the media landscape aren’t new, the story took on a fevered intensity, aided by viral TikToks and a widely shared New York cover story that visually highlighted the familial connections of Hollywood stars through a flowchart. Suddenly, celebrities found themselves under intense scrutiny as the myth of meritocracy became widely contested.
