Jamie Lee Curtis Says ‘Nepo Baby’ Debate Is “Designed to Try to Diminish and Denigrate and Hurt”

Jamie Lee Curtis has joined the chorus of celebrities who are weighing in on the so-called “nepo baby” debate.

Curtis, the daughter of actors Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis, made her professional acting debut at age 19 in a 1977 episode of the TV series Quincy, ME

Earlier this week, New York Magazine published a feature titled “The Year of the Nepo Baby” that detailed the lineages of numerous Hollywood folks who have famous parents and other relatives working in the entertainment industry. The story’s various charts — including this onewhich featured Curtis and other celebrities — explored how nepotism has given them some industry advantage or played a part in each of their successes.

Curtis on Friday weighed in with a post on Instagram, noting that she’s been acting since age 19 (she’s now 64), starting with that episode of Quincyso that makes her an “OG Nepo Baby.”

“I’ve never understood, nor will I, what qualities got me hired that day, but since my first two lines on Quincy as a contract player at Universal Studios to this last spectacular creative year some 44 years later, there’s not a day in my professional life that goes by without me being reminded that I am the daughter of movie stars,” she wrote. “The current conversation about nepo babies is just designed to try to diminish and denigrate and hurt.”

In her post, which featured a photo of her as a toddler along with her family, the Halloween The actress also noted that she doesn’t try to “pretend there aren’t any” advantages to having had A-list parents but challenged the generalization that she or others born into famous families don’t necessarily have talent.

“For the record I have navigated 44 years with the advantages my associated and reflected fame brought me, I don’t pretend there aren’t any, that try to tell me that I have no value on my own,” she wrote. “It’s curious how we immediately make assumptions and snide remarks that someone related to someone else who is famous in their field for their art, would somehow have no talent whatsoever. I have come to learn that is simply not true. I have suited up and shown up for all different kinds of work with thousands of thousands of people and every day I’ve tried to bring integrity and professionalism and love and community and art to my work. I am not alone. There are many of us. Dedicated to our craft. Proud of our lineage. Strong in our belief in our right to exist.”

She ended her post by quoting from the 2022 film Everything Everywhere All at Once, an awards contender in which she stars opposite Michelle Yeoh.

“So, in these difficult days of so much rage in the world can we just try to find that quiet voice that the brilliant movie, EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE reminds us…

“NOTE TO SELF:

“BE KIND,

“BE KIND;

“BE KIND:”

Curtis is the latest to weigh in after the New York article went viral. Others include O’Shea Jackson Jr., the son of rapper, actor and filmmaker Ice Cube; Lily Allen, daughter of actor Keith Allen and movie producer Alison Owen; and Lottie Moss, half-sister of Kate Moss.

See Curtis’ full post below.