It’s not that I feel sorry for Apple Martin exactly – I mean, with her parental pedigree and gilded lifestyle she isn’t obvious sob story material – but the latest criticism of her did make me pause.
The 21-year-old has, after apparently being bombarded with offers for years, said yes to her first modelling job, for British brand Self-Portrait. “Oh surprise, another celebrity nepo baby wants to be a model,” wrote one person on social media, which was among the milder responses.
I’m sorry, but what did you expect from the daughter of Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin? That she was going to work a 9-5 in HR? I mean, Paltrow herself is perhaps the original nepo baby (her mother being the actor Blythe Danner and her father the director Bruce Paltrow), who once said that fame felt “like a predestined thing” for her, and at one point had to explain different types of caviar to her boyfriend Brad Pitt over dinner. Relatable.
Look, I get it. Nepo babies are easy targets, especially those with an unapologetic social media presence – yes, Romy Mars, daughter of Sophia Coppola and Phoenix singer Thomas Mars, I’m talking about you and that TikTok dance with Jacob Elordi (31.7m views and counting).
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It feels validating to imagine that they’ve been brought up to behave badly – little Veruca Salts demanding that daddy bring them a golden egg, NOW. That being born into such fortunate circumstances couldn’t possibly turn out a well-adjusted or decent human being. How else to explain the rush to accuse Martin of behaving like a “mean girl” towards another attendee at last year’s Le Bal des Débutantes in Paris, by stepping into her photo opportunity? Criticism that Martin has said “absolutely wrecks you” – yes, nepo babies have feelings, too.
Of course, there are those who lack self-awareness. Take Lily Collins saying “Maybe you get your foot in the door, but you still just have your foot in the door. There’s a lot of work that comes after that.” Or Patrick Schwarzenegger bemoaning his last name (diddums). But no one is denying that nepos still have to prove themselves, it’s just that there are also plenty of people who graft for years and still can’t get so much as a big toe over the threshold – and recognising that would be the cool thing to do.
As Jack Quaid (son of Meg Ryan and Dennis Quaid), said, “I’m an immensely privileged person, was able to get representation pretty early on, and that’s more than half the battle.” Yup. Girls star Allison Williams, daughter of US news anchor Brian Williams, is also good on this.
And at least Martin is trying. She’s a law student at Vanderbilt, has worked in a clothing shop and her Instagram, on which she posts a lot of political opinions, is set to private. In Interview magazine this year, she explained that she was always “really discouraged from doing anything in the public eye. Also, I was like, ‘I don’t think we need another celebrity child in the world.’ I just try to do what feels right and block out anything regarding me in the news to the best of my ability.”
Which is a bit sad, really. Can we not just lighten up on nepo babies for a minute? It also highlights the uncomfortable truth that, even if Martin did try her best to stay away from the limelight entirely, we’d still probably find a way to drag her back into it. We fan the nepo baby flames – seeking out their recipes on social media, enjoying their nature photography (“so hard to photograph, but incredible to see”), sharing their TikToks, poring over their red-carpet appearances alongside their mum and dad, however rare they might be. You have famous parents therefore you’re not only interesting, but public property by proxy – it’s not hard to see why some nepo babies would decide to own that.
As Mars said, in a 2023 viral TikTok video: “Make vodka sauce pasta with me because I’m grounded because I tried to charter a helicopter from New York to Maryland on my dad’s credit card because I wanted to have dinner with my camp friend.” Not pretending that you’re just a regular teenager and subtly making fun of the rest of us at the same time? Now that’s nepo baby behaviour to admire.