As a self-identified “OG Nepo Baby,” Jamie Lee Curtis takes exception with the recent criticism of celebrities who were “born into fame.” Curtis, who rose to fame in 1978 as the star of John Carpenter’s Halloween, is someone who grew up with two Academy Award nominees as parents, meaning she certainly has some knowledge on the subject. She is the daughter of Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis, both of whom spent decades in show business as professional actors.

On social media, there has been a recent trend of lambasting actors, musicians, and other celebrities who’ve had family members find fame before them. They are often referred to as “Nepo Babies,” as a recent article at Vulture details. It has gotten enough chatter that it caught JLC’s interest, prompting a lengthy response on Instagram. In the post, the Knives Out star concurs that having famous parents may or may not have helped get her a leg up at the start of her career, but she then looks back at the 44 subsequent years of relentless hard work to get to the spot where she’s at today.

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“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 my being reminded that I am the daughter of movie stars,” Curtis says. “The current conversation about nepo babies is just designed to try to diminish and denigrate and hurt.”

Jamie Lee Curtis Acknowledges Her Lineage

     The Fog

“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,” JLC also notes. “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.”

Referencing one of her recent films, the OG Nepo Baby goes on to add, “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. 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 and as my friend (Rob Reynolds) reminds us, NOTE TO SELF: BE KIND, BE KIND; BE KIND.”

As one of today’s most revered “Nepo Babies,” perhaps Curtis should be listened to.

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