Dakota Johnson Said She Struggled To Buy Groceries After Her Dad Cut Her Off Financially For Pursuing Acting Instead Of Going To College

Earlier this week, Dakota Johnson hit the headlines when she branded nepotism discourse “incredibly annoying,” “boring,” and “lame.”

The 34-year-old actor has always been a hot topic when it comes to nepo babies, thanks to her glittering connections — Dakota is the daughter of actors Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith.

In addition, her grandmother is Tippi Hedren — who shot to fame in the ’60s and starred in Alfred Hitchcock’s iconic horror movie The Birds — and her former stepfather is Antonio Banderas.

And it is arguably undeniable that Dakota’s family tree gave her a bit of a helping hand when it came to her carving a Hollywood career of her own.

After all, she made her movie debut when she was just 10 years old, being cast in Crazy in Alabama alongside her famous mom.

She also enjoyed a modeling career throughout her teens, which was kick-started when she took part in a photo shoot with other celebrities’ children for Teen Vogue when she was 12 years old.

Dakota ended up making a living through modeling as she tried to get her big acting break in adulthood — one of her first notable appearances was in The Social Network back in 2010, when she was 21.

Five years later, Dakota established herself as a household name after landing the lead role of Anastasia Steele in the Fifty Shades of Grey movie adaptation, and the rest is history.

Dakota made her most recent nepotism comments during an appearance on the Today show, saying of the discourse, “When it first started, I found it to be incredibly annoying and boring, like, if you’re a journalist, write about something else. That’s just, like, lame.”

The remark immediately went viral on social media, where Dakota was called out for seemingly refusing to acknowledge the privilege she was born into.

One person tweeted, “Privilege cannot stand being talked about. And the more they have, the more they hate you bringing it up.”

NBC / Via Twitter: @brownandbella

“i don’t understand why nepo babies get so offended when you call them that. how hard is it to be like ‘yeah i had an bif advantage & im lucky to get to do something i love’ etc. and go about ur day?” another asked.

NBC / Via Twitter: @badbadtzlevi

“Being born to two massive actors in their prime and thinking you didn’t have it easier than the average nobody is crazy,” one more added. “Even if it took a while for you [...] you don’t have the poverty struggles of struggling actors.”

NBC / Via Twitter: @hilarialexander

But earlier in the same interview, Dakota did try to relate to the struggles of those who do not have a financial safety net as she revealed that her dad actually cut her off financially when she decided to pursue acting instead of going to college.

The star admitted that her money situation became so “difficult” at times that she sometimes struggled to buy groceries.

“He cut me off,” Dakota explained. “It was difficult, but I figured it out. He said to everybody — by 'everybody,' I mean all of my siblings ... he calls it the ‘payroll.’ It’s an allowance. He said if you go to college, you still get an allowance.”

“And I was like, ‘Well, I’m going to be an actress,’ so he was like, ‘Alright, well, you’re on your own.’ I was cut off,” she added.

“I did some little modeling jobs that helped me pay my rent, and then I started auditioning and got some jobs,” Dakota went on.

However, Dakota then exposed her privilege once again as she admitted that when she did begin to struggle financially, she would turn to her mom — who has an estimated net worth of $40 million — for help.

“I definitely had moments where I couldn’t afford groceries and things like that and I needed to ask my mom to help me,” she said. “She was the nice one.”

Fortunately for Dakota, she now has an eye-watering estimated net worth of her own of $14 million — so hopefully the days of having to depend on her mom’s goodwill or dad’s “payroll” are over!

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