What does Hailey Bieber's "Nepo Baby" shirt tell us

The Nepo Babies discourse has been warming keyboards since the end of 2022, when the New York Magazine cover put the faces of the "children of" who have had access to careers in this exclusive universe through contacts with agents and production houses of their parents or famous relatives. The issue has also made discuss the professionals self-taught, as the model Vittoria Ceretti who lashed out against her colleague (and friend) Lily Rose Depp after an interview, inviting her to recognize the privilege that belongs to those born with a known surname, which Hailey Bieber did, wearing a T-shirt with the slogan "Nepo Baby" in favor of paparazzi on Friday afternoon in Los Angeles. The photos of the model have made the tour of the web, collecting mixed comments, between those who hosed her to "nepo baby queen" for having recognized her privilege and shown it with confidence, and who accuses her of living on income, but especially of who, Looking carefully at the photos taken at Hailey in the same day, she noticed that Justin Bieber’s wife did not wear the T-shirt with the slogan all day and changed after getting the shot from thousands of likes.

Bieber was actually the first to talk, albeit indirectly, the topic after the chat cover of New York Magazine. In addition to her, however, Tom Hanks wanted to say his, too, that during the promotion of his new film - in which his son Truman also appears - he did not fail to answer a question on the subject: «This is a family business, this is what we have been doing for generations and it is the world where my children grew up. If we were a plumbing company or if we ran the flower shop down the street, the whole family would have to spend time at some point, even if it was just the inventory at the end of the year». Nepotism was certainly not born with Hollywood, but is indeed rooted within our culture long before Brooklyn Beckham published a book of photographs becoming the laughing stock of TikTok. It would be enough to go back to the roots of the term, which is linked to the tendency of the Popes to favor their families, to realize that the problem is not the surname that accompanies the celebrities on duty, but the real professional merit that should justify a prominent role.

If the "nepo babies" have always existed, to create the short circuit that we live today is the collision of two worlds: that of the children of art and that of influencers. The result are the names that today we look with suspicion, recurring faces whose presence is not always justified but who live their professional life with the same superficiality with which some influencers have founded their success disguised as successful characters. For this reason, despite its simplicity, the t-shirt by Hailey Bieber is more than just a shirt, but it is a way to show yourself as you really are.