Hailey Bieber steps out in ‘Nepo Baby’ T-shirt amid viral debate
Hailey Bieber is proud of her famous last names.
The model stepped out in Los Angeles on Friday wearing a belted pair of jeans along with a statement-making cropped T-shirt emblazoned with the words “Nepo Baby.”
The term refers to children who’ve gotten a leg up in the entertainment industry because of their famous parents, and served as the inspiration behind New York magazine’s viral “Year of the Nepo Baby” cover story.
Bieber — who’s the daughter of Stephen Baldwin and the niece of Alec Baldwin, and met her husband, Justin Bieber, at a red carpet event — faced plenty of accusations of nepotism when she began her modeling career in the mid-2010s.
She even once poked fun at her own runway walk, calling it not her “thing” and pointing out her poor form.
Save for her pointed tee, Bieber, 26, hasn’t directly commented on the New York article, in which she is mentioned in passing — but plenty of others with famous parents and family members have.
Self-proclaimed “OG Nepo Baby” Jamie Lee Curtis, the daughter of late actors Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh, penned a lengthy Instagram post defending her merits and slamming those who “immediately make assumptions and snide remarks that someone related to someone else who is famous in their field for their art, would somehow have no talent whatsoever.”
Kate Hudson, who was raised by mom Goldie Hawn and stepdad Kurt Russell, said she believes nepotism happens “way more” outside of Hollywood, in other industries like business.
Lily Allen took it a step further by defending fellow children of famous parents, saying, “In childhood we crave stability and love, nurturing. We don’t care about money or proximity to power yet. Many of the nepo babies are starved of these basic things in childhood as their parents are probably narcissistic.”
It’s unclear where Bieber got her tee, or if it’s actually New York magazine merch.