Whoopi Goldberg compares ‘nepo baby’ label to ‘DEI hire’ label—calls it another way to discredit people
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Whoopi Goldberg says questioning someone’s success based on their parents’ careers isn’t all that different from questioning a DEI hire.
Whoopi Goldberg has heard enough about “nepo babies,” and this week, she made that very clear.
During Monday’s Hot Topics segment on “The View,” the hosts got into a recent “CBS Mornings” interview where singer Gracie Abrams admitted she’s benefited from being a “nepo baby” as she’s the daughter of writer-director J.J. Abrams and exec Katie McGrath. During the conversation, which was supposed to be about whether people are too quick to write nepo babies off, Goldberg couldn’t help but chime in:
“Let me tell you what being a nepo baby is like. When you say that about somebody, it’s like calling them a DEI hire,” she shared, earning agreement from fellow co-host Sunny Hostin. “It’s like saying you didn’t get this on your own,” Goldberg continued. “This girl has — she’s incredibly talented, and nepo babies, they don’t have a choice who they’re born to!”
Ana Navarro pushed back a bit, praising Abrams for being “self-aware” and arguing that people’s real issue with nepo babies is when they refuse to acknowledge they’ve had access others haven’t. To which, Goldberg pointed to her own daughter Alex, who has previously shut down “nepo baby” claims.
“I know my kid doesn’t like being called a nepo baby. What she does, she does on her own,” Goldberg said. “She got it. She worked her behind off. And whether she is as successful as me, or not as successful, this is her life. Once they step out of your house, they are going out to do their thing.”
“I get very annoyed with this subject because I don’t like when people don’t give…don’t assume!” she added. “You assumed somebody helped me. You’re assuming that they did this. Don’t make that the question you ask me when I come in. Ask me, ‘Hey, what did you do? How did you do what you do?’ Then I can say, ‘Well, you know, my mom opened the door,’ or this. But don’t assume that that’s what happened. Because, a lot of these kids, their parents don’t open doors for this very reason.”