Willow Smith Said Being Called A “Nepo Baby” Pushed Her To Succeed

The “nepo baby” discourse continues. The term had a hot moment in December 2022, when Vulture published an article about the rise of celebrities with famous parents. There’s also the full circle phenomena of nepo parents, who are launching their own careers thanks to their popular children. In recent months, celebrities who were mentioned in the story — think Kate Hudson, Maude Apatow, and more — have shared their thoughts about the label. Now, Willow Smith has stepped to the podium.

On May 2, Willow spoke about her own connection to nepotism to Allure. Due to her famous parents, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, she’s been in the spotlight since she was a young kid. (In an April 2022 episode of Red Table Talk, she defined that early exposure as a “dark time” in her life.) Willow then started releasing music at age 9, some people attributed her success to simply her last name. Willow thinks differently.

“I truly believe that even if my parents weren’t who they were, I would still be a weirdo and a crazy thinker,” Willow told the publication. “I definitely think that a little bit of insecurity has driven me harder because people do think that the only reason I’m successful is because of my parents. That has driven me to work really hard to try to prove them wrong. But nowadays, I don’t need to prove sh*t to anybody.”

That tenacity’s come alive in the recent era of her music career, which sees her embracing different hues of rock and indie pop like a natural. Her brother Jaden, who’s also been attached to the “nepo baby” title, has also created his own lane in music. However, compared to Willow, he’s been fairly quiet about his take on the discourse.

Elsewhere in the story, Willow said she’ll always have a different experience with nepotism as a Black woman. She reflected on experiences where people treated her poorly, such as insinuating that an expensive item was “a little bit out of her price range” or that she doesn’t belong in a specific space.

“Being Black in America, even with privilege, which I’m never going to deny that I have, you’re still Black. And I love being Black,” she says. “People would look at me and [say], ‘Okay, well, her parents are this and this and that, but she still is like me. She still has brown skin.’ And we all know that doesn’t exempt you from anything, and that’s a place of connection.”