With how expensive things are these days, it’s not uncommon to hear men and women expressing sentiments about wanting a sugar daddy or mommy. How serious they are depends on the individual, and while some couldn’t fathom trading their time (or body) in exchange for money, others are keen to have their bills paid and live lavishly on another’s time. This past week there’s been speculation that 21-year-old Aoki Lee Simmons is part of the latter category. She was recently on vacation in the tropics with a man 44 years her senior.
65-year-old Vittorio Assaf and the model have reportedly since gone their separate ways. Simmons hasn’t said too much about the scandal online. Her mother, Kimora Lee, insinuated she was unimpressed with her daughter’s antics. Interestingly, Aoki’s father, Russell Simmons, wasn’t phased by the massive age gap. This is potentially because he and his ex-wife came together under similar circumstances, and calling his offspring out would look hypocritical. As she goes through the motions of allegedly being single again, Simmons has been sharing some reflective thoughts on her Instagram Story.
Aoki Lee Simmons Finds Solace in Chloe Sevigny’s Words
@aokileesimmons/Instagram Story
Another woman in the public eye, Chloe Sevigny, seems to have summed up how Simmons is feeling beautifully in an old letter she wrote about being a young woman in New York. “I do know for my mom it was very terrifying, but I checked in a lot, and my dad would always remind her that there was more good in the world than bad,” the American Horror Story actress recalled, admitting to experimenting with acid, ecstasy and candyflipping, but “never cocaine.” When sharing the post on her page, the black-haired beauty added, “Her words [are] also mine [at this point].” As DailyMail notes, the black-haired beauty moved to Brooklyn when she was 20 after graduating from Harvard University.
Aoki Lee Simmons has been dealing with internet trolls long before launching her fling with Assaf. For the most part, haters find joy in picking apart the 21-year-old’s body, going so far as to accuse her of being anorexic. As a result, Simmons says she’s losing out on modelling work which has been understandably frustrating. Read how the nepo baby deals with negativity online at the link below, and check back later for more hip-hop/pop culture news updates.
During a recent interview with VladTV, Aries Spears shared his thoughts on nepo babies. The term has been thrown around a lot lately, referring to the children of wealthy or celebrity parents. Nepo babies are pretty controversial, with a lot of them receiving hate for the privileges they have. Though some nepo babies really do work to carve their own paths, the advantages they have in doing so tend to put people off. Some famous examples include the Kardashian/Jenner sisters, Lily-Rose Depp, and Hailey Bieber. Bieber even made headlines earlier this year for leaning into the stereotype, wearing a t-shirt reading “nepo baby.”
DJ Vlad and Spears got into a bit of a debate on the whole concept, with DJ Vlad claiming that being a nepo baby doesn’t guarantee someone anything. Spears agrees on some level, however, he thinks they have far more advantages than most. “It doesn’t guarantee you a role,” DJ Vlad says. “No, it doesn’t guarantee you a role but it does allow you to skip the line,” Spears notes.
When DJ Vlad says “possibly,” Spears argues his case. “No, it’s no ‘possibly’ about it,” he explains. “A lot of people can’t even get to the front door.” He says that for a lot of people, the massive sacrifices they make in order to pursue their dreams can be frightening. The comedian describes how after dedicating themselves to their craft they still have to worry about feeding their family, paying bills, and constantly having an alternative plan, as their success is never guaranteed.
Spears emphasizes the stark contrast between this and the path of a nepo baby, who will always have something to fall back on. “When you try to make a life for yourself and complete a dream that you’ve always had for yourself and pay the mortgage, and the rent, and the bills, and keep the lights on, and feed your kids and this is your heart, your soul? That matters to you.”
Now, Teyana Taylor is joining the discourse with her own perspective. In a chat with Jeremy O. Harris for Interview Magazine she talked about the nepo baby accusations she’s received and the crucial role her hardworking mother played in her life.
Read what she shared below.
“I’ve seen all these tweets like, ‘That’s crazy. I never knew Teyana was a nepo baby,’ and I’m like, ‘Tell me who my celebrity parents are?’ Let’s be clear. My mom was literally a workaholic, she worked her ass off to make sure I had everything that I needed. So by the time we got to my sweet 16, I had just signed my first contract with Star Trak, Pharrell Williams’s label, and me, my mom and Pharrell, and the label, we came together. That was from her hard-earned money and my hard-earned money from getting my record deal. I was just this little Harlem girl and we sat down and watched Sweet 16 and I knew I wanted to set the tone. I’m from New York. I don’t want no car. I want a bike. You feel me?
So I want to commend my mom, she works very hard and she made a lot of things happen for me, and that’s why this role means so much. Even when I first got pregnant with Junie, I remember texting her, like, ‘Yo, I just appreciate you so much.’ I used to laugh when she was like, ‘Oh girl. I was in 72 hours labor,’ all those little things that they say. Then becoming a mom is like, ‘Wow.’ And then becoming Inez is triple wow. So I commend her from the bottom of my heart. And I just wanted to get that off my chest.”
Nepo Babies is the 2022 phrase that made so many celebrities mad. If you somehow missed the trend, a “nepo baby” is someone who was able to kick start their success due to having incredibly famous parents. Examples include Zoe Kravitz (daughter of Lenny Kravitz), Nic Cage (nephew of Francis Ford Coppola), and Jack Quaid (son of Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan).
However, has the phrase gone too far? What started as a fun turn of phrase to mock Hollywood and the entertainment industry’s somewhat incestuous hiring practices, the phrase inevitably mutated. Soon it became a label meaning “anyone whose parents are famous and have subsequently found success in the same industry.” A much debated Vulture article that “explained” the “nepo-verse” often becomes undone with weak examples. For example, Daniel Day-Lewis’ son, whose only notable acting role is The Daily Wire-funded Terror On The Prairie. Now, the multi-talented Teyana Taylor is pushing back against the label in that regard.
— Def Jam Recordings Africa (@defjamafrica) April 12, 2023
Taylor sat down with Interview Magazine as part of their Spring/Summer Issue. During the interview, she was asked to give her thoughts about the Nepo Baby phenomenon. “I’ve seen all these tweets like, “That’s crazy. I never knew Teyana was a nepo baby,” and I’m like, “Tell me who my celebrity parents are?” Taylor said. Taylor, whose mother Nikki works in the fashion industry, went into more detail about her big break, reality show My Sweet 16. “Let’s be clear. My mom was literally a workaholic, she worked her ass off to make sure I had everything that I needed. So by the time we got to my sweet 16, I had just signed my first contract with Star Trak, Pharrell Williams’s label, and me, my mom and Pharrell, and the label, we came together.”
Additionally, Taylor spoke more about what her mother meant to her growing up. “My mom worked in corporate America. Those hours are really crazy. So I had everything that I needed, but at certain times, I would feel like, “I want you. I’d rather have nothing and you than to have it all and have you overworking yourself.” That’s at a young age, not understanding the importance of her building this life for me.” So is Teyana Taylor a “nepo baby”? Not really, but she does make some good points about why the phrase got out of hand.
For several months now, the term “nepo baby” has been a hot topic of conversation online. As living expenses continue to rise, without any real promise of change, the masses have been feeling as though it’s about time to “eat the rich,” as well as their famous children who inherit millions simply for being born. While some stars try to deny that they came from fame, others, like Gigi Hadid, are learning to accept the label.
For her latest interview, the supermodel spoke with the Times of London about growing up in the shadow of her mother, Yolanda Hadid. The Dutch beauty previously starred on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills from 2012 to 2016 and was frequently seen criticizing Gigi for eating on camera, leading to backlash. Before she achieved fame and fortune, however, the family matriarch and her husband, Mohamed Hadid, came from nothing.
Gigi Accepts Her Nepo Baby Status
Yolanda Foster, Bella Hadid and Gigi Hadid attend the 2017 Glamour Women of The Year Awards at Kings Theatre on November 13, 2017, in New York City. (Photo by Noam Galai/WireImage)
“Technically I’m a nepotism baby,” Gigi shared. “My parents came from very little. I’ve always acknowledged that I come from a privilege. Over the years, her parents taught her plenty of important lessons, including being as nice and hard-working as possible at all times. For the Hadid family, being successful and having money is no reason to slack off or make a bad impression.
Though she’s walked down some of the most important runways of the past decade, the mother of one still has her insecurities. She doesn’t think that she’s “the prettiest person in the world,” though Hadid noted that some Botox might be just the thing to fix that. She’s no stranger to the intense pressure that comes with being a model, having landed her first job when she was only two years old. After plenty of hard work, she posed for Victoria’s Secret and went on to debut at New York Fashion Week in 2014.
Elsewhere in her interview, Gigi Hadid spoke briefly about her co-parenting experience with Zayn Malik. The two broke up little more than a year after their daughter, Khai’s birth. At the time, allegations against the former One Direction member stated that he shoved Yolanda into a dresser, which he previously pleaded no contest to in court. Read what the 27-year-old had to say about her ex here, and check back later for more pop culture news updates.
O’Shea Jackson Jr., son of the legendary Ice Cube, recently spoke on being a “nepo baby,” and actually taking pride in it. Moreover, the 32-year-old spoke on The Kelly Clarkson Show about the debate surrounding the term, which refers to celebrity children with successful Hollywood careers. Of course, Jackson Jr. is one of the many starts in the recently released Cocaine Bear film, which might approach cult status soon. If it doesn’t, at least it was a fun and Pusha T-cosigned movie to look back on. Regardless, O’Shea actually made his film debut portraying his father in the N.W.A. biopic Straight Outta Compton.
With that experience in mind, he says the label is like a “badge of honor” for him. “I’m forever grateful for everything my dad had to do to get me the opportunities that I have,” he expressed. “And if I were to run away from that or shy away from that in any way, in my eyes, that’s disrespectful to everything he had to go through. He didn’t work as hard as he did for me to not accept and appreciate it. So, I wear it as a badge of honor.
“At the same time, the door can be open but you’ve gotta walk through,” he continued after calling his dad his hero. “You know, a lot of people, they have an idea of what I’m going to be before I get to any set because of their idea of what my dad is. They think I’m coming to set entitled or I feel like I need to have a ‘posse’ of 15-20 people with me… you know… straight rap stuff. But I’m here to work. I pride myself on my professionalism.”
While some will hate on nepo babies no matter what, O’Shea actually makes some valid points with his remarks. After all, being a nepo baby, in theory, is only as bad as you make it with your attitude towards others and sense of entitlement. Also, this isn’t the first time he’s spoken on it. In fact, he auditioned to play his father two years before getting the role and pointed out how he switched agencies as well. Overall, he spoke earnestly about expressing gratitude for the door his father opened up, and about it being up to him to truly succeed out of merit. Regardless of your take, check back in with HNHH for the latest on O’Shea Jackson Jr. and Ice Cube.
Just when you thought the ‘nepo baby‘ conversation was over, it reenters social media’s trending topics. This time at the center of the conversation is budding rap star, King Combs.
After landing at the Los Angeles International Airport, King (real name Christian), who is the oldest biological son of music mogul Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, was stopped by TMZ to ask him about his feelings around being labeled a nepotism baby. Initially, when asked by the cameraman, King laughs off the subject. Still, after the second ask, he humbly responds, “[It doesn’t bother me], not really. Heavy is the head that wears the crown. So [I] have a big legacy I have to live up to,” adding, “but right now, Bad Boy [Records] we’re number one, baby.”
When asked about how he feels about benefitting from his father’s two-decade-long career in the industry, King said, “I feel like I’m blessed. You know [my siblings and I] are going to take the legacy further and further.” Closing with his father’s signature slogan, “Bad Boy for life.”
King Combs, without a doubt, benefits from the groundwork his father has laid in music, but he continues to make way for himself. King hasn’t hidden from his father’s legacy. In fact, he has embraced it. His music leans into honoring his father every step of the way, as recently heard on his breakout song, “Can’t Stop Won’t Stop,” featuring Kodak Black.
From the outside looking in, being a part of a nepotist circle doesn’t sound so bad. For simply being a famous person’s baby, you get to reap the countless benefits of celebrity status, and likely have no shortage of job opportunities coming your way. Of course, the discourse has shifted recently, with mass wealth (and keeping it in the family) becoming harder to stomach as the cost of living continues to rise.
One of the latest stars to face questions about their “nepo baby” status is obviously Christian “King” Combs. Last week, TMZ caught up with Diddy’s son at LAX, where they asked him how he’s been dealing with the pressure and critics.
Sean Combs and Christian Combs attend the Heavenly Bodies: Fashion & The Catholic Imagination Costume Institute Gala at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 7, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/MG18/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue)
“You must be so sick and tired of this debate everyone’s having,” a journalist told Combs as they walked through the airport. “Everyone’s coming for kids of famous people and nepotism.”
In response, the 24-year-old calmly said, “Not really. Heavy is the head that wears the crown. We’ve got a big legacy to fill. Right now? Bad Boy? We number one!”
Of course, the reporter had to press for more. “Do you feel any sort of way about benefitting from your dad’s success? Or like just is what it is?” he asks King. “How do you feel about being born into a lucky situation?”
“I feel like I’m blessed,” the rapper earnestly tells the camera. “We gonna take the legacy far, Bad Boy for life.” Finally, when sending out a message to any of his haters, Combs referenced his latest single. “Can’t stop, won’t stop, never stop. Just stop hating! That’s it.”
While outsiders may be hating on King and his famous family, they’ve been busy with the newest addition – Love. The little one was born to 28-year-old Dana Tran last year, though Diddy didn’t announce her arrival until October.
The baby’s big brother shared a heartwarming photo of them together on Instagram last week. Check it out below, and tap back into HNHH later for more pop culture updates.
In recent days, “nepo baby” has been a major buzzword (or “buzz term,” more accurately) online. Essentially, it refers to celebrities with famous relatives and implies the opportunities for success that they have received are primarily thanks to the fame of their families. (The “nepo” is short for “nepotism.”) Vulture recently ran a thorough, in-depth feature that cataloged most of the nepo babies in American pop culture, but what about music specifically? There’s a pretty sizable list in that industry, too.
(For the purposes of this list, “nepo baby” is not a judgement term and simply refers to musicians whose parent or parents worked in the entertainment industry or were otherwise noteworthy/affluent.)
Indeed, there are some famous nepo babies in the music world. A few that immediately come to mind are Miley Cyrus (daughter of Billy Ray Cyrus), Jaden and Willow Smith (children of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith), Norah Jones (daughter of Ravi Shankar), Robin Thicke (son of Alan Thicke), and Nancy Sinatra (daughter of Frank Sinatra). There are plenty beyond that, though, including some you may not have realized had at least one famous relative. Let’s take a look:
Coi Leray
Father: Benzino (rapper, producer, co-founder of The Source)
Leray has been one of the promising rappers of the past few years, plain and simple. In 2021, XXL put her on their esteemed “Freshman” list and she dropped her defining single “No More Parties,” which was her first song to place on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and be certified platinum by the RIAA. She also made some noise this year with Trendsetter, her debut album that included features from Nicki Minaj, HER, Lil Durk, and others. She also appeared on a 2022 cover story for Uproxx. NBD.
Clairo
Father: Geoff Cottrill (Chief Marketing Officer at Top Golf, previously of P&G, Coca-Cola, and Starbucks)
Through accusations of being an “industry plant,” Clairo has proven that she really does have the musical goods and that she deserves all the acclaim she’s received. Her two albums, 2019’s Immunityand 2021’s Sling, both earned spots on numerous year-end lists, while the former got her on the Hot 100 chart for the first time and the latter was her first top-20 album in the US.
Gracie Abrams
Father: J.J. Abrams (filmmaker)
In recent years, Abrams has become your favorite artist’s favorite artist. She’s joining Taylor Swift on tour in 2023 and she’s previously supported Olivia Rodrigo and The National. This is thanks in part to the strength of her 2021 project This Is What It Feels Like, which features some Aaron Dessner production and was well-received.
Maya Hawke
Parents: Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke (actors)
Hawke is best known for her breakout role in Stranger Things, but before the show, she was already working on a music career for herself. That’s been going well, too: Her two albums, 2020’s Blush and 2022’s Moss earned some critical praise, which, along with her acting chops, helped establish Hawke as a skilled multi-hyphenate.
King Combs
Father: Diddy/Sean Combs (rapper, businessman)
Combs has been grinding away at a music career for a few years now and it has really paid off. One of his freestyles previously caught 50 Cent’s attention and just this November, his single “Can’t Stop Won’t Stop” topped Mediabase’s Urban Radio chart, actually passing his father Diddy’s Bryson Tiller collaboration “Gotta Move On” to claim the title.
King Princess
Relatives: father Oliver H. Straus Jr. (recording engineer) and great-grandfather Isidor Straus (US congressman and co-owner of Macy’s)
Nepo baby or not, King Princess has been one of the more notable breakout music stars of the past few years. Her debut single, 2018’s “1950,” has been certified platinum and she’s generally become a critical favorite. She’s even managed to transcend music by appearing as a guest judge on Is It Cake? earlier this year.
Samia
Parents: Kathy Najimy and Dan Finnerty (actors + Dan Band leader)
Samia built a strong foundation for herself with her 2020 debut album The Baby: It was one of the year’s best-received projects and it set the table for her upcoming second LP, Honey. Coincidentally, by the way, Samia’s video for The Baby lead single “Is There Something In The Movies” actually featured Maya Hawke.
Frankie Cosmos
Parents: Kevin Kline and Phoebe Cates (actors)
Cosmos (whose real name is Greta Kline) is an established veteran stemming from the 2010s indie scene, having cemented herself as a mainstay figure through many Bandcamp releases and later a string of proper studio albums. Last year, she continued her string of beloved albums with Inner World Peace.
Buzzy Lee
Parents: Steven Spielberg (director/writer/producer) and Kate Capshaw (actress)
For years now, Lee has been plugging away and really making a name for herself in the music scene with various releases over the past decade. She’s earned herself some big opportunities, too, like working with Nicolas Jaar as Just Friends, collaborating on multiple occasions with Jpegmafia, and opening for Haim on their 2022 tour.
Elijah Hewson
Father: Bono (U2 singer)
While they haven’t broken out in the US quite yet, Inhaler, the band led by Hewson, is a phenomenon overseas: Their debut album, 2021’s It Won’t Always Be Like This, topped the charts in the UK and Ireland. It’s also easy to hear the genealogy in Hewson’s voice and sounding like a young Bono certainly hasn’t hurt, especially with the band’s rock sound that also bears some stylistic similarities to ’80s U2.
