Kate Hudson says that she knows nepotism is real but feels it “doesn’t matter” if you work hard and happens “way more” in other industries outside of Hollywood.
In an interview with The Independent published Saturday, the Glass Onion star waded into the latest cycle of the Hollywood nepotism debate while promoting the Rian Johnson-directed Knives Out sequel. Hudson, who was among the performers included in a chart for New York Magazine‘s recent Year of the Nepo-Baby feature, said that when it comes to the “nepotism thing… I don’t really care.”
“I look at my kids and we’re a storytelling family,” she continued. “It’s definitely in our blood. People can call it whatever they want, but it’s not going to change it.”
Hudson, who was among the performers highlighted in New York Magazine‘s recent nepo babies feature, is the daughter of actors Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell (who themselves come from performer parents); has several siblings in the industry, including Wyatt Russell and Oliver Hudson; is currently engaged to director Danny Fujikawa; and has publicly supported her eldest son Ryder (from her marriage to The Black Crowes’ Chris Robinson) with his own music ambitions.
The Glass Onion actress went on to note that nepotism is not just something that exists in Hollywood and pointed to other industries where she’s witnessed nepo baby advantages in action. It’s something the magazine feature captures with looks into nepotism’s presence in everything from the publishing and art worlds to sports and fashion.
“I actually think there are other industries where it’s [more common]. Maybe modeling?” she said. “I see it in business way more than I see it in Hollywood. Sometimes I’ve been in business meetings where I’m like, wait, whose child is this? Like, this person knows nothing!”
Ultimately, Hudson says she cares less about what someone’s historical relationship to entertainment is and more about whether they work hard and deliver. “I don’t care where you come from, or what your relationship to the business is,” she explained. “If you work hard and you kill it, it doesn’t matter.”
Hudson is the latest entertainment industry member to weigh in on the renewed debate about the role nepotism has played in the careers of some of Hollywood’s bigger — and even lesser-known — names. Others include O’Shea Jackson ad Lily Allen, the latter of whom made a similar, more pointed version of Hudson’s argument.
“The nepo babies y’all should be worrying about are the ones working for legal firms, the ones working for banks, and the ones working in politics,” the singer, who is the child of actor Keith Allen and movie producer Alison Owen, tweeted. “If we’re talking about real world consequences and robbing people of opportunity. BUT that’s none of my business.”
Jamie Lee Curtis has also responded, acknowledging nepotism is real but that “the current conversation about nepo babies is just designed to try to diminish and denigrate and hurt.”
“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 continued. “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.”