
Britain has always loved nepo babies
It's like a Mario Puzo novel: the Beckhams are brawling. If you are to take the Daily Mail at their word, David and Victoria 'have become estranged' from the eldest son Brooklyn, who is supposedly trapped in a prenup arrangement with notorious actress-heiress Nicola Peltz Beckham. To add insult to injury, online onlookers have started to make fun of Cruz Beckham, 20, for playing guitar in an indie rock band. 'Are you going to stick with this job or going to become a race car driver next or something?' asked one TikTok commenter under some clips of him mid-shred.
'Wrong brother mate,' he replied.
Perhaps Cruz is right to distance himself from his sibling, who has accidentally become a boogeyman for his downwardly-mobile contemporaries. In 2025, many are struggling just to get a job interview – but Brooklyn has been a model, a hapless online chef, a hot-sauce entrepreneur and a not-very-good published photographer. ('Elephants in Kenya,' goes a caption from his photography book, next to an image of an elephant-shaped shadow. 'So hard to photograph but incredible to see.')
Brooklyn is the archetypal 'nepo baby,' allowed to fail upwards because of celebrity parents.
'The entertainment industry has never been a meritocracy,' began the New York Magazine cover story that helped popularise the term three years ago. But the article went on to claim we were living in a 'nepo-baby boom,' surrounded by an unusual number of actors and singers leeching off their famous relatives. When you look at the rest of human history it seems likely that we've just stepped slightly out of a 200-year lacuna. Our modern conception of the celebrity – a unique talent nurtured by press – is relatively new. It most likely began on the Victorian stage with the astronomical success of non-nepo Sarah Bernhardt; Clara Bow, the first woman famed for her non-inherited but natural 'It' factor, came out of nowhere a century ago. Millennia have been spent going the other way.
All the major ancient pantheons had twisty family trees; biblical figures in the Old Testament constantly begat other figures. And most world civilisations on record have been ruled by nepo babies, or at least by those who have plotted to depose them. We have had no time to rejig our expectations. It's no longer in vogue to say that our remaining monarchs have a direct stamp of approval from God – but there are few other conclusions to make about our new celebrity class. Minor sightings result in hysteria; red carpets command press cavalcades; props, costumes and personal belongings make big money at auction. Why wouldn't these supernatural qualities pass from generation to generation? The religious have collected sacred relics for centuries; surely the most exciting relic to see, the one bearing the largest volume of original biological detritus, is a living child.
Like every great historical dynasty, the Beckhams are doing a public service by moving fact to the more interesting realm of fiction. Ask any casting agent from the world of reality TV: those with enough talent to rise up through meritocracy are too busy grinding on the job to produce any good interpersonal drama. But intergenerational sagas are everywhere in literature because the plots never get old; as Tolstoy said, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. Brooklyn's troubles in the kitchen and on safari have a Waughesque air about them; the battle between the Peltzes and the Beckhams seems to have been lifted word-for-word from the soap opera Dynasty. And we cannot help but root for Cruz, who would probably be the earnest, field-tilling character in a long Russian novel collaged together from the Sidebar of Shame. He will never manage to dissociate himself from the rest. But he shouldn't have to.
Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month Subscribe
I am not a nepo baby; before becoming a journalist I knew nobody in the industry, although I did once try to stake a Tess of the d'Urbervilles-style claim to literary status after hearing that one of my ancestors supposedly fled Nazi Germany with Thomas Mann. Those of us who jeer at the nepo babies have no idea how romantic and fun it feels to almost be one. We should make fewer complaints and start falsifying our family trees; it's time to operate by the real rules of Qing China or Plantagenet England. All of history is ours to play with.
[See more: Stop taking Glastonbury so seriously]
Related

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


NBC News
23 minutes ago
- NBC News
'Love Island USA' star Yulissa Escobar reacts to Cierra Ortega's sudden departure
Former 'Love Island USA' contestant Yulissa Escobar is addressing Cierra Ortega's departure from the show, calling for compassion over cyberbullying . In a TikTok video posted July 7, Escobar, 27, drew parallels between her experience and Ortega's abrupt removal from the villa in Episode 30. Both left 'Love Island USA' after posts containing racial slurs resurfaced. A spokesperson for Peacock declined to comment to (Peacock is owned by NBCUniversal, TODAY and NBC News' parent company.) 'I know what she did was wrong but we need to stop fighting hate with hate,' Escobar said in the video. 'The cyberbullying has gone to another level.' Following her removal from the show in June after Episode 2, Escobar issued an apology. In her recent video, the former Islander acknowledged that both she and Ortega made mistakes and didn't minimize the harm caused by their words. 'I'm not justifying what I did, I know what I did and what I said was wrong, and I know what Cierra said was wrong and I know it hurt communities,' she said. Escobar emphasized that while she doesn't condone the language used, the online harassment both women have faced crosses a line. 'When I was in that hotel room in Fiji and I was looking at those messages I was getting, I was honestly scared to come home,' Escobar said. 'I was like, is something going to happen to me? Is someone going to do something to me? Because it was just a lot to take in, and even my family was worried.' Now, she's worried about Ortega facing similar threats. 'Instead of sending such disgusting messages to her and her family ... try to educate us,' Escobar said. 'Her, me, I said something in the past that was wrong, she did too, like try to educate people so we can grow as a community.' Escobar expressed particular concern for Ortega's mental health, noting that she doesn't know if the former Islander is 'OK' and saying she wished she could check on her well-being. 'I'm speaking up for everybody in that island, I'm speaking up for Cierra, not because I don't know what she did was wrong … but I just feel for her mental health and I'm scared, I'm worried for her,' she said. Escobar concluded her video with a message of unity. 'We need to stick together, we can't continue this division we need to unite and teach people. That's how we're going to grow as a community, and we have younger generations that are watching this show and we're not teaching them to be better,' she said. The 'Love Island USA' finale is set to air on July 13, with the recent controversies casting a shadow on the season's conclusion. Ortega has not publicly addressed her departure. Her parents issued a statement posted to her Instagram story, both acknowledging Ortega's actions and asking for an end to 'threats' and 'cruel messages.' 'As Cierra's parents, this has been one of the most painful weeks of our lives,' the post began. 'We're not here to justify or ignore what's surfaced. We understand people are upset, and we know accountability matters. But what's happening online right now has gone far beyond that.' The post said Ortega will 'face this with honesty, growth and grace' when she returns from Fiji, where the show is filmed. 'While she'll always be our little girl, she's also a woman, one who will take responsibility in her own time and her own voice,' the post read.


Daily Mail
44 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Lorenzo Lamas files for divorce from wife Kenna Nicole Lamas ... which marked his SIXTH marriage
Actor Lorenzo Lamas has filed for divorce from wife Kenna Nicole on Tuesday, apparently bringing his sixth marriage to an end. The Santa Monica, California-born actor, 67, said in court documents reviewed by TMZ that he and Kenna Nicole had separated this past January 21. Lamas, who was previously married five times, said that 'irreconcilable differences' led to the split with Kenna Nicole. The actor said in court documents that he did not have any children with Kenna Nicole, therefore there is no need to allocate time toward dividing funds for child support or custody. Lamas said that he wanted the court to terminate the ability to give either party support. Daily Mail has reached out to reps for Lamas, and Kenna Nicole for comment via Instagram. Actor Lorenzo Lamas has filed for divorce from wife Kenna Nicole on Tuesday, apparently bringing his sixth marriage to an end The split comes less than two years after they wed in 2023. Pictured in LA in November of 2022 Lamas told the court that him and his estranged spouse initially got engaged in Las Vegas in February 2021. They tied the knot in October 2023, Lamas told the court. According to TMZ, it was not immediately clear if the former couple had hashed out a prenuptial agreement prior to their wedding nearly two years ago.


NBC News
an hour ago
- NBC News
'And Just Like That' plot hole, explained: Did Lisa Todd Wexley's dad die twice?
A shocking death is not a new plot point for 'And Just Like That…' The 'Sex and the City' spinoff show left many fans reeling with the surprising death of Mr. Big in the very first episode of Season 1. Now in Season 3, the show has once again made waves with an unexpected passing. In the most recent episode, the characters mourn another loss, but sharp-eyed viewers have noticed that something doesn't seem quite right with this storyline. Here's the plot point caused confusion — and the simple explanation behind it. Who is killed off twice in 'And Just Like That'? The father of the character Lisa Todd Wexley (Nicole Ari Parker), also known as LTW, seems to die twice in three seasons of 'And Just Like That...' For those only familiar with the original show, LTW might not be a familiar name. The character was introduced to the 'Sex and the City' universe in the first episode of the spinoff when she runs into Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Charlotte (Kristin Davis) and Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) at brunch. In the second episode of Season 1, LTW shares that her father died a year prior. LTW brings up his passing while comforting Charlotte as she grieves Big's death. 'I was the exact same way when I lost my dad last year,' she tells Charlotte. This small detail makes sense until Season 2, when LTW's father pops up, alive, with no explanation of what happened. Played by Billy Dee Williams, LTW's dad, Lawrence Thomas, makes an appearance at her anniversary party in an episode fittingly titled 'ALIVE!' In Season 3, Episode 6, which premiered July 3, the mystery continued when LTW reveals her dad died suddenly from a stroke at age 90. Is there an explanation for the plot hole? Turns out LTW was referencing her stepfather's death in Season 1, can confirm. The dad who died in Season 3 was her biological father. This explanation would account for the confusion, but it still has not stopped fans from coming up with their own humorous takes on what could have happened. 'can we talk about how and just like that feels like if someone asked chatgpt to write an entire series after only having seen the SATC movie,' one user commented on an IndieWire post on X about the show's viral mix up. 'He also appeared in a dinner held for her husband in season two. So he died, resurrected, and now died again,' joked in reply to the same post. Perhaps the apparent resurrection of LTW's dad means other characters will also return, some fans teased. 'Carrie will be having dinner with Big next episode,' a fan commented on TikTok. Other viewers took the moment as an opportunity to dream up their craziest reasons for why the plot point could have occurred. 'It's the multiverse. Each season takes place in a different alternate universe,' another fan theorized in the TikTok's comments section. 'She has two gay dads y'all. Did you ever think of that?!?' added another commenter on the same video. However, some fans were defensive of the show, compelling fans to remember it isn't that serious.