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Home / Entertainment

Gwyneth Paltrow tells Hailey Bieber nepotism babies 'have to work twice as hard'

Vera Alves
By Vera Alves
NZ Herald Planning Editor and Herald on Sunday columnist·NZ Herald·
30 Jul, 2022 08:00 AM4 mins to read

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Gwyneth Paltrow thinks nepotism babies like herself have to work twice as hard. Photo / Getty Images

Gwyneth Paltrow thinks nepotism babies like herself have to work twice as hard. Photo / Getty Images

OPINION:

Gwyneth Paltrow is hailed by some people as a visionary and this week I've finally understood why. The Goop founder, known for her vagina-scented candles and her yoni eggs, discovered an innovative way to say some seriously deranged stuff to a wide audience - in a bathroom, with Hailey Bieber.

The two nepotism babies got together in Bieber's bathroom (I know, I don't get it either) to talk about I-don't-really-know-what. In the latest episode of Bieber's (nee Baldwin) YouTube series Who's in my Bathroom? Stephen Baldwin's daughter was joined by the daughter of actress Blythe Danner and producer Bruce Paltrow.

It was all going fairly well (as well as it can when you're interviewing someone in a custom-built bathroom, I suppose) until the two incredibly rich women, children of Hollywood families, started discussing nepotism in the industry.

According to Paltrow, it's not actually all that easy to build your Hollywood career based on the wealth and connections you get from mum and dad.

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"As the child of someone, you get access other people don't have, so the playing field is not level in that way," Paltrow begins by admitting, tricking you into thinking she's about to make some sense.

"However," she continues, threateningly. "I really do feel that once your foot is in the door, which you unfairly got in, then you almost have to work twice as hard and be twice as good."

Why is life so hard for the children of celebrities, you, a mere peasant, may wonder? Don't worry, Gwyneth enlightens us further: "Because people are ready to pull you down and say 'you don't belong there' or 'you are only there because of your dad or your mum'."

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Did you know Gwyneth Paltrow is the daughter of actress Blythe Danner and Producer Bruce Paltrow? pic.twitter.com/40DYZHhIZa

— imdbjr.com (@imbdjunior) July 28, 2022

Let's take a break to wipe our tears.

Oh, the plight of the obnoxiously rich. Thank goodness they have Lady Goop herself to speak up for them.

Paltrow took the opportunity to share some words of wisdom with her fellow nepo babies, for whom she believes the sky's truly the limit. "It shouldn't limit you because what I believe is that nobody in the world, especially somebody who doesn't know you, should have a negative impact on your path or the decisions that you make."

Wise words, Gwyneth. Those people who do not have the burden of famous Hollywood parents know nothing about how hard it is to be born into unbearable amounts of privilege.

Honestly, imagine giving an interview where you make a joke about how you f***ed the other person's dad and that's not even your worst moment in that bathroom?

To her credit, Gwyneth Paltrow is not the only self-appointed defender of nepotism babies to come out lately.

In an interview a few weeks ago, Friends star Jennifer Aniston, daughter of actors John Aniston and Nancy Dow, said people have it easy these days with the internet, while she had to put in the hard yards (presumably in the womb, before being born to famous and very well-connected parents).

"This thing of people becoming famous for basically doing nothing but yet having these incredible careers," Aniston said. "And then women's reputation ... I mean, Paris Hilton, Monica Lewinsky, all those."

"I feel so lucky that we got a little taste of the industry before it became what it is today," she continued, since no one stopped her. "More streaming services — you're famous from TikTok, you're famous from YouTube, you're famous from Instagram. It's almost, like, it's diluting the actor's job."

Recently, Kendall Jenner, daughter of Kris and Caitlyn Jenner, also said out loud that coming from a famous family made it harder to create a career as a model, actually.

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All these comments would be nothing but laughable if it weren't for the fact that these people are seen as role models to portions of society.

When it comes to successful people, looking at how far they've come is good - but checking where they started from is better.

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