Kate Hudson Speaks Up About Nepotism Debate And Her Opinion Is Surprising
Kate Hudson responds to a recent story about Hollywood nepotism by saying it isn't as big a problem as it is in other industries.
New York magazine recently caused a stir among celebrities with an article they wrote about “nepo babies,” or celebrity children who allegedly benefitted from their parents’ fame. Kate Hudson is the latest to strike back, telling The Independent that she doesn’t care about nepotism in Hollywood because it is rampant in other industries. She joins Jamie Lee Curtis, Lily Allen, and O’Shea Jackson Jr. in calling out the article.
Kate Hudson is one actress who can certainly be eyed for nepotism, as the daughter of Goldie Hawn and stepdaughter of Kurt Russell. The New York article singled her out as one of its profiles, alongside Mason Gooding, Lily-Rose Depp, Colin Hanks, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Dakota Johnson. In her recent interview, the Glass Onion actress indicated that there is more nepotism in modeling and business than there is in Hollywood, which can put unqualified people into important roles.
The star told The Independent, “Sometimes I’ve been in business meetings where I’m like, wait, whose child is this? Like, this person knows nothing!” Kate Hudson’s statement about nepotism hints at an ominous truth when one considers that these business meetings are often with attorneys and financiers whose competence needs to be impeccable.
O’Shea Jackson, the son of movie producer Alison Owen and rapper Ice Cube, noted a similar trend to Kate Hudson regarding nepotism in industries other than Hollywood. “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,” he said in criticism of the article. He was not featured in it, but with a famous rapper as a dad and a career of his own in the music industry, it is easy to see how the article may have elicited this response.
Jamie Lee Curtis took her criticisms of the article to the families of performers like Kate Hudson, stating that the claims of nepotism in Hollywood are “designed to try to diminish and denigrate and hurt.” As the daughter of actor Tony Curtis and original Psycho shower scene actress Janet Leigh, she too has a personal stake in the article, pointing out that it hints that these famous children got to where they were because of family connections rather than talent. No one can look at Jamie Leigh Curtis, from Halloween to Knives Out, and claim that her career was due to her movie star parents.
For Kate Hudson, nepotism isn’t as important as whether someone works hard on set and gets results. While her sentiment seems to be applied to making movies, it is also a message for all children who enter the family business. No matter who someone is connected to, the important quality that must be present is the competence to deliver.
While Kate Hudson may have famous parents as well as siblings like Wyatt Russell, she worked her way up and made her own mark the same way her parents did, with guest appearances and small roles. She hit it big with 2000s Almost Famous and 2003’s How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, proving that while she has her mother’s adorable looks and sense of comic timing, she is also very much her own person. In addition to Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, she is appearing in the upcoming comedy A Little White Lie.
Many Hollywood celebrities like Kate Hudson acknowledge that there is some nepotism in the performing arts, but perhaps that is a good thing for audiences all over. With celebrities like Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, Ice Cube, and Tony Curtis as mentors, it’s no wonder their children have picked up a thing or two about being around a studio. In the end, audiences benefit from all this knowledge, so are “nepo babies” really that bad?
