16 Times "Nepo Babies" And Other Celebs Who Grew Up Rich Were Suuuuper Out Of Touch

Some celebs who grew up with wealthy and/or famous parents openly acknowledge that privilege, while others deny it or try to act like it's NBD.

Here are 16 out-of-touch things celebs have said about growing up rich and privileged:

1.During a 2021 Vogue interview, Bella Hadid — who grew up in an $85 million mansion — got "emotional" over a picture of herself wearing Louboutins as an adult because she wasn't allowed to have any designer clothes as a kid.

Here's the full video, with this part starting at the 9:36 mark:

2.On a 2021 episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians, Kendall Jenner denied claims that her reality TV stardom made it easier for her to break into modeling. She said, "Of course I had a platform, and I never took that for granted. I always knew that that was there, but that almost made my job a little bit harder."

She added, "Only because people probably didn't want to hire me because I was on a reality TV show."

3.Following criticism of Forbes' labeling of her as the "youngest self-made billionaire ever" in 2019, Kylie Jenner — who's been on TV with her famous family since age 10 — told Interview magazine, "There's really no other word to use other than 'self-made' because that is the truth. That is the category that I fall under."

She continued, "Although I am a special case because before I started Kylie Cosmetics, I had a huge platform and lots of fans. I did not get money from my parents past the age of 15. I used 100% of my own money to start the company; not a dime in my bank account is inherited … and I am very proud of that."

However, soon after, she admitted that she wasn't quite self-made, telling the New York Times, "I can't say I've done it by myself. If they're just talking finances, technically, yes, I don't have any inherited money. But I have had a lot of help and a huge platform."

In 2020, Forbes revoked her billionaire status and alleged that she inflated the size and profit of her business, which she denied.

4.In 2018, Forbes put both Kim Kardashian (No. 54) and Kylie Jenner (No. 27) on its list of America's Richest Self-Made Women. Following criticism, Kim told Refinery29, "I really didn't get it, because she is 'self-made' — we are all 'self-made.' What, because we came from a family that has had success?"

She continued, "To me, that doesn't really make sense ... I know so many people like that [who] haven't turned out to be as successful as Kylie. If anything, I've seen the complete opposite. ... Me, Kylie, not one [of the siblings] has ever depended on our parents for anything besides advice. That's how I lived my life with my dad. He never gave me anything. We might have the opportunity, but I've seen it go the complete opposite way. Nobody works harder than my sisters and my mom."

5.In 2007, Kim Kardashian told Inside Edition that growing up rich made it "harder" for her and her siblings once they grew up because after their parents stopped supporting them, they had to work to maintain the same lifestyle.

Here's the full clip, with this part starting at the 2:27 mark:

6.In 2018, Paris Hilton told Refinery29, "I think of myself and anyone who does business as being self-made. Everything I've done, I've done on my own, and yes, I do come from a last name, but there also are many children I know that come from families who, you know, take the choice of not doing anything with their lives."

She continued, "I work harder and travel more than any CEO I'm friends with. The same with Kylie [Jenner]. I think any woman who is going to get into business and be an entrepreneur and make a big name and brand for themselves, they are self-made."

7.In the Netflix docuseries Beckham, Victoria Beckham tried to claim that her family was "working class" — until her husband, David Beckham, made her admit that her dad drove her to school in a Rolls-Royce.

Watch the full clip below:

Netflix / @PopCrave / Via x.com

8.In 2022, Matty Healy — who is the son of actors Denise Welch and Tim Healy and got his start performing at an event hosted by his dad — told Apple Music's Zane Lowe that nepotism discussions must come from a place of jealousy.

Watch the full interview below, with this part starting at the 20:35 mark:

9.Appearing on Red Table Talk in 2022, Ireland Baldwin acknowledged that, if she weren't the daughter of actors Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin, she probably wouldn't have been scouted as a model. However, she said that it made her feel that she had "a lot more to prove."

Here's the full clip, with this part starting at the 3:55 mark:

10.In 2016, Hailey Bieber (who is the daughter of actor Stephen Baldwin and was then Hailey Baldwin) told Grazia Daily UK, "I want to do everything on my own without my name being a factor. I try to keep myself separate from it. Kids that already have a famous background are just following in their families' footsteps. My dad and all of his brothers have done this. This is my family business."

However, she also added, "I'm not trying to take away from models who have started from scratch, and I really appreciate the girls who have had to move from another country and work really hard. I know it's more difficult for them."

11.On an episode of Hailey Bieber's YouTube show, Who's in My Bathroom?, Gwyneth Paltrow — whose parents are actor Blythe Danner and director Bruce Paltrow — said that she thinks the children of people in the entertainment industry have to "work twice as hard" once they get in.

Watch the full video below, with this part starting at the 2:50 mark:

12.In late 2022, when "nepo babies" were a big topic of discussion on social media, Lily Allen — who's the daughter of actor Keith Allen and film producer Alison Owen — tweeted, "The nepo babies y'all should be worrying about are the ones working for legal firms, the ones working for banks, and the ones working in politics, If we're talking about real world consequences and robbing people of opportunity. BUT that's none of my business."

She added, "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."

However, following backlash, she acknowledged her nepotism privilege, then added, "It is quite clear that there is a severe lack of representation in the industry where class and race are concerned. Everyone loses as a result. I do feel that nepo babies are being somewhat scapegoated here though, there is a wider, societal conversation to be had about wealth inequality, about lack of programs and funding, and I guess that was the point I was trying to make, maybe badly. I promise you I'm not rooting for an industry full of people that had childhoods that looked like mine. I just really think that we can't get to a real solution without identifying the real problem, as fun as it is to laugh at the kids of famous people. Nepo babies have feelings."

13.In 2022, Zoë Kravitz — the daughter of actor Lisa Bonet and singer Lenny Kravitz — brought up the "nepo babies" debate to GQ. She said, "It's completely normal for people to be in the family business. It's literally where last names came from. You were a blacksmith if your family was, like, the Black family."

She also said that since she was a teenager, she's had a "deep insecurity" about working in entertainment.

14.Also in 2022, Kate Hudson, who's the daughter of actors Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell, told the Independent, "When I was starting out, if anybody asked me about them, I'd always try and change the subject. I really wanted to have my own career. Once I was a good decade in, though, I realized it just didn't matter. [...] The nepotism thing, I mean...I don't really care."

She continued, "I look at my kids, and we're a storytelling family. It's definitely in our blood. People can call it whatever they want, but it's not going to change it. I actually think there are other industries where it's [more common]. Maybe modeling? I see it in business way more than I see it in Hollywood. Sometimes I've been in business meetings where I’m like, wait, whose child is this? Like, this person knows nothing!"

15.In 2019, Lily-Rose Depp — a Chanel model who met the label's former director through her mom when she was a baby, and an actor whose first role was alongside her dad when she was a teen — told Vogue Australia, "It is obviously a really easy assumption to make to think that I would just have roles landing on my doorstep because of my name, but that's an idea I've always kind of rejected. I've always been under the impression that I have to work twice as hard to prove to people that I’m not just here because it's easy for me."

She continued, "I feel like you're not what your name is. If you're not right for something, they're not just going to hire you because your name looks good on the post."

A year later, following backlash to her previous comments, she told i-D, "I'm so careful about these conversations now. I feel like my parents did the best job that they possibly could at giving me the most 'normal childhood' that they could. And obviously, that still was not a normal childhood. I'm super aware of the fact that my childhood did not look like everybody's. But at the same time, it's all that I know, so I have had to find comfort in it somehow. I'm really lucky that I've been surrounded by people who value normalcy and who value real life, and I think that's the only way to exist in this world and not go insane."

16.And finally, in 2022, Lily-Rose Depp told Elle, "The internet seems to care a lot about that kind of stuff [nepotism]. People are going to have preconceived ideas about you or how you got there, and I can definitely say that nothing is going to get you the part except for being right for the part. The internet cares a lot more about who your family is than the people who are casting you in things. Maybe you get your foot in the door, but you still just have your foot in the door. There's a lot of work that comes after that."

She continued, "It's weird to me to reduce somebody to the idea that they're only there because it's a generational thing. It just doesn't make any sense. If somebody's mom or dad is a doctor and then the kid becomes a doctor, you're not going to be like, 'Well, you're only a doctor because your parent is a doctor.' It's like, 'No, I went to medical school and trained.'"