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BY MICHAEL MUSTO | No one is easier to hate on than a “nepo baby”—a young ‘un who was born to privilege and fame and therefore had doors swing open for them from their first taste of a silver spoon. But you have to admit that, while some of these folks don’t accomplish much of anything outside of acting all pissy about their status, others create their own legends and even admit that their supposedly great luck sometimes acts as a hindrance, which they have to routinely overcome. So let’s stop hating on the non-hateable ones, especially since they didn’t ask to be born that way! The 10 Best Nepo Babies of Today are:

TRACEE ELLIS ROSS | Being the daughter of my all-time favorite star, Diana Ross, must be both ennobling and intimidating for Tracee, but she’s handled herself beautifully, while carving out her own legacy via talent and intelligence. Having made her mark on shows like Girlfriends and Black-ish and in movies like American Fiction, Tracee deserves every square inch of her fame. I just can’t resent the woman for anything, especially when she smiles like that.

MARGARET QUALLEY | The 30-year-old daughter of Andie MacDowell (Four Weddings and a Funeral), Margaret long ago evaded “nepo” accusations, since she usually comes off as the best one imaginable for any role she plays. Having trained as a ballet dancer, Margaret wisely segued into acting in films like Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Poor Things and The Substance. It’s getting to the point where people probably go up to Andie MacDowell and say, “Aren’t you Margaret Qualley’s mother?”

LILY-ROSE DEPP | Born to then-bonded eccentrics Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis, the beautiful Lily-Rose is bilingual (French and English) and a multitasker who has done both modeling and indies, not to mention having dated Timothee Chalamet. On screen, she projects a sort of haunted elegance, and though I couldn’t stand Nosferatu, I’m such a believer that I will even give her another chance. 

DAKOTA JOHNSON | The daughter of two underrated actors–Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson–Dakota became a star with the Fifty Shades film series, but she’s left that garbage in the dustbin of life and has repeatedly shown herself to be a capable actor in quality films. My favorite performance of hers was in the Maggie Gyllenhaal-directed and written The Lost Daughter (2021), in which she shone as a complicated young mother who’s prone to shady doings. In real life, Dakota is anything but a lost daughter—or lost anything. Last year, she brought her unique rhythms to her SNL hosting gig and seemed to treat the various sketches she was in as if they involved real acting. Long may she nepo.

MALIA AND SASHA OBAMA | The daughters of President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, Malia (26) and Sasha (23), have had to come of age under a microscope that scrutinizes their every move. And they have kept on, despite it all. Malia is a Harvard grad who’s worked as a writer and who just directed a Nike commercial, while Sasha is a college grad with a lot of promise. They’ve both done work for important organizations and they’ve learned in the process. And with the support of the folks—dad has openly stated that he wants a world where their dreams are unfettered—I’m confident that they will stay famous and fabulous.

DAN LEVY | My eyebrows alone have gotten me compared to his dad more than once, but I swear to you I’m not the father of Dan Levy—not the biological father, anyway. That would be Eugene Levy of SCTV and Christopher Guest fame. And the apple didn’t fall very far from the tree, considering Dan’s success on Canadian TV and later on Schitt’s Creek (with dad, of course). Yes, the openly gay Dan is nepo all the way, but his fame at daft drollery seems to provide its own justification. 

MILEY CYRUS | I remember when Miley was simply a feisty young TV star who was the daughter of one-hit wonder Billy Ray Cyrus. I also remember when the media tore her apart for simply trying to grow up in the public eye, while not always being cookie-cutter perfect about it. And here she is—award-winning, record-breaking, and truly talented.

JASON SCHWARTZMAN | The nepo baby of Talia Shire, Jason is also the nepo nephew of Francis Ford Coppola and the nepo cousin of Sofia Coppola. He is nepo down—and I have to say I used to resentfully assume that he only got anywhere because of his fabled connections. But last year, Jason was a bright spark in Queer and was terrific in Between The Temples (I won’t mention Megalopolis), so I’m officially team Schwartzman, though I will let filmmaker Wes Anderson continue to be head coach.

LIZA MINNELLI | Yes, Liza is the daughter of the greatest entertainer of all time, Judy Garland, and her dad was legendary film director Vincente Minnelli, but I’m pretty sure that at 79, she’s proven herself to be worthy in her own right. Give the woman a break already, lol!

Michael Musto is a columnist, pop cultural and political pundit, NYC nightlife chronicler, author, and the go-to gossip responsible for the long-running (1984-2013) Village Voice column, “La Dolce Musto.” His work appears on this website as well as Queerty.com and thedailybeast.com, and he is writing for the new Village Voice, which made its debut in April of 2021. Follow Musto on Instagram, via @michaelmusto.

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