Emma Roberts is continuing her campaign to change the narrative around “nepo babies” in Hollywood.
The American Horror Story star recently claimed she’s “never gotten a job” because of her famous father Eric Roberts or even her aunt Julia Roberts, but has “lost a couple” of roles because of them.
“I’ve lost more jobs than I’ve gained from being in the business,” Emma Roberts told Flaunt. “People have opinions and sometimes maybe they’re not good opinions of people in your family. I’ve never gotten a job because of it, I know I definitely have lost a couple of jobs because of it.”
After her breakout leading role on the Nickelodeon series Unfabulous (2004-2007), Emma and her aunt Julia both appeared in Garry Marshall‘s 2010 ensemble romantic comedy Valentine’s Day.
But somehow, the Madame Web actress avoided being mentioned in New York Magazine‘s 2022 “Nepo Baby” feature. “Should I be offended?” Emma joked to Flaunt.
Emma Roberts attends the Film Independent Spirit Awards on February 25, 2024 in Santa Monica, California. (Monica Schipper/Getty Images)
Monica Schipper/Getty Images
“It was a cheap shot to put all the celebrity kids on the cover of a magazine on babies’ bodies,” she continued. “It’s like maybe the ‘Nepo Baby’ conversation would’ve been a more interesting article written intelligently in Vanity Fair with nuance, but instead, it was kind of this viral hating-on-people thing.”
Emma previously called out the sexist double standard around the “nepo baby” discourse, using her aunt’s frequent co-star George Clooney as an example. “People definitely have preconceived notions of you,” she said last month on Bruce Bozzi’s Table for Two podcast.
“I think there’s two sides of the coin, you know. People like to say, ‘You have a leg up because you have family in the industry,’ but then the other side to that is, you know, you have to prove yourself more,” Emma continued. “Also, if people don’t have [a] good experience maybe with other people in your family, then you’ll never get the chance.
“I think there’s something to be said where everybody loves the kind of overnight success story. And so if you’re kind of not the girl from the middle of nowhere that broke into Hollywood, you know there’s kind of an eye roll of like, ‘Well, your dad was this.’”
Emma said, “I always joke, ‘Why is no one calling out George Clooney for being a nepo baby? [His aunt] Rosemary Clooney was an icon.’”