Vittoria Ceretti, Anok Yai & other models slammed nepo-baby Lily Rose Depp
Last week, Lily Rose Depp’s Elle Magazine cover story came out, and most people rolled their eyes at her and her idiocy, white privilege and blindness to her own nepotism. Lily Rose has two massively famous parents – American Johnny Depp and French model, actress, singer and muse Vanessa Paradis. Paradis has a big career in France and… Lily Rose looks a lot like her mother. Lily Rose got a Chanel contract when she was only 16 years old, and of course she’s gotten modeling and acting jobs based on her name and her parents’ fame. Not according to Lily Rose though, who told Elle:
“The internet seems to care a lot about that kind of stuff. People are going to have preconceived ideas about you or how you got there, and I can definitely say that nothing is going to get you the part except for being right for the part. The internet cares a lot more about who your family is than the people who are casting you in things. 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.”
Well, a lot of people who are NOT nepo-babies have some thoughts about all of that. Model Vittoria Ceretti got it started, posting this message on her IG Stories:
“I just want to share a thought here because I can. I bumped into an interview of a so-called ‘nepo baby’ or whatever y’all call it,” she began her Instagram Story post, which was later shared by the gossip account Diet Prada. While Ceretti conceded that the nepo baby in question has probably faced some rejection, the model pointed out that their privilege and family connections have likely cushioned any blow.
“You can tell me your sad little story about it (even at the end of the day you can still always go cry on your dad’s couch in your villa in Malibu), but how about not being able to pay for your flight back home to your family? Waiting hours to do a fitting/casting just to see a nepo baby walk past you from the warm seat of her/his Mercedes with her/his driver and her/his friend/assistant/agent taking care of HER/HIS MENTAL HEALTH. You have no f–king idea how much it takes to make people respect you. TAKES YEARS. You just get it [for] free day one.”
“I have many nepo baby friends whom I respect, but I can’t stand listening to you compare yourself to me. I was not born on a comfy sexy pillow with a view. I know it’s not your fault, but please, appreciate and know the place you came from.”
Good for Vittoria, truly. I’m glad she said this and I hope that Lily Rose is f–king listening. Another model, Anok Yai also spoke up around the same time as Vittoria, writing about how broke she was when she moved to New York to work as a model, and how she felt like she was on a knife’s edge, with no one or no money to fall back on for years and years. She also wrote, in part: “I will see some of you privilege kids stress about not booking a job because of the impact of your career while there are those of us who stress because we don’t know if we’ll be able to take care of our parents this months or put our siblings through school…I know you work hard and have your struggles like the rest of us, but goddamn if you only knew the hell we go through to stand in the same room that you were born in.”
Anok and Vittoria posting their statements on their respective IGs ended up giving space to several models – none of them nepo babies – the space to tell their own stories and how it bothers them that they can’t even talk about this within the fashion industry, how much nepotism is “baked into the system.” You can follow this thread:
Nyagua Ruea on Lily Rose Depp and white privilege pic.twitter.com/KxmBV3RvIP
— MODELS (@ModelsFacts) November 18, 2022
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, cover courtesy of Elle.
Milan Fashion Week Moda Donna Spring Summer 2019.Tod’s fashion show. In the photo: Vittoria Ceretti USA, CAN, AUS, ESP, POR, S AMERICA ONLY Photograph: © IPA/PacificCoastNews. Los Angeles Office (PCN): +1 310.822.0419 UK Office (Avalon): +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 sales@pacificcoastnews.com,Image: 534017419, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: USA, CAN, AUS, ESP, POR, S AMERICA ONLY – Los Angeles Office (PCN): +1 310.822.0419 UK Office (Avalon): +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 sales@pacificcoastnews.com, Model Release: no, Credit line: IPA/PacificCoastNews / Avalon 
Vittoria Ceretti at the Alberta Ferretti fashion show during Milan Fashion Week. Milan, Italy – Wednesday February 20, 2019. USA, CAN, AUS, ESP, POR, S AMERICA ONLY Photograph: © IPA/PacificCoastNews. Los Angeles Office (PCN): +1 310.822.0419 UK Office (Avalon): +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 sales@pacificcoastnews.com,Image: 535386818, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: USA, CAN, AUS, ESP, POR, S AMERICA ONLY – Los Angeles Office (PCN): +1 310.822.0419 UK Office (Avalon): +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 sales@pacificcoastnews.com, Model Release: no, Credit line: IPA/PacificCoastNews / Avalon 
Anok Yai walks the red carpet of amfAR Milano Fashion Week Gala, Milan, ITALY-21-09-2019,Image: 537815210, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Flavio Lo Scalzo / AGF Foto / Avalon
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