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Jamie Lee Curtis is weighing in on the “nepotism baby” conversation.
On Friday, the Everything Everywhere All at Once actress, 64, shared two throwback photos of herself with famous actor parents Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh as she identified herself as an “OG Nepo Baby” in response to conversation sparked this week by a New York magazine cover story on the phenomenon.
“I have been a professional actress since I was 19 years old so that makes me an OG Nepo Baby,” Curtis began in her caption. “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.”
“The current conversation about nepo babies is just designed to try to diminish and denigrate and hurt,” the actress continued. “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.”
RELATED: See Hollywood’s ‘Nepotism Babies’ Side-by-Side with Their A-List Parents in Their Breakout Roles
Curtis went on to call the notion that people assume “nepotism babies” automatically are not talented in their own right “curious” in the post.
“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,” the actress continued. “I have come to learn that is simply not true. 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.”
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“There are many of us. Dedicated to our craft. Proud of our lineage,” Curtis wrote of others in the entertainment industry whose family members are also famous. “Strong in our belief in our right to exist.”
Tony Curtis, Janet Leigh and Jamie Lee Curtis in 1991
The Halloween Ends star finished her post by asking that people “be kind” to one another rather than focus on negativity “in these difficult days of so much rage in the world.”
RELATED: Lily Allen Says ‘Nepo Babies Have Feelings’ as She Defends Stars with Famous Parents amid Debate
Since the publication of the New York piece, many stars have spoken out about the “nepo babies” stigma.
Meanwhile, Curtis’ parents have been on her mind as of late. On Wednesday, the actress shared an Instagram carousel of multiple Variety covers showcasing several of the magazine’s recent picks for “The 100 Greatest Movies of All Time,” leading with her mom’s classic Psycho.
“I woke up this morning missing my mother and wishing she could see the beautiful family that I have, and that her two daughters are well and thriving and for her to enjoy this magical, creative year I’m having, after such a long time in the same industry she loved,” she wrote.
