New Rule: Nepo Babies | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO)

and finally new rules to all the people who've been telling me Bill you have to do something on nepo babies shut up I don't have to but okay here it is and if you haven't heard the term yet here's a brief Montage of all the nepo babies in the acting profession beginning with Douglas Fairbanks Jr that's right their moms and dads were all stars too it doesn't make them bad people or untalented in fact some nepo babies did very well in their first big roles but let's also admit that they weren't the only ones who could have done it but when it's between a few good people and one of them is going to get you this kind of publicity who do you think is going to get the part so enjoy the good life nippos just don't say you didn't have a huge advantage or it didn't matter that much who your parents were or it just got my foot in the door this is Show Business getting your foot in the doors 80 of it yes yes there are difficult roles that require acting only the great ones can do but most acting please Vin Diesel can do it foreign bodybuilders can do it children can do it Steven Seagal could do it I did it reality TV is acting acting like you didn't know that glass of wine was going to get thrown in your face [Applause] this is one reason why of the top rated telecasts on television Sports last year accounted for 94 of the top 100 because it is the last Refuge of meritocracy in America show business is full of nepo babies politics is full of nepo babies even modeling which used to require the Integrity to find a freakishly Perfect 14 year old in a small Slovenian Village [Applause] has fallen to nepotism but in sports there are no nepo babies there are the sons and daughters of former players but it's not why they play Laila Ali didn't knock out 21 opponents by smacking them with her birth certificate foreign is the last place where it doesn't matter who you are or where you're from just what you do no one gets hired either because it would make the team look like America or because they're rich white daddy pulled strings I don't trust the government media churches judges juries Banks Jiffy Lube or anyone on a dating app anyone on a dating app covering their chin with their hand but I do trust that the 450 players in the NBA are the absolute best 450 players the teams could find anywhere in the world the fact that this kid's future in the NBA is not assured in fact it's the opposite of assured that's very assuring to me everyone wants to see LeBron James son play on the same team with his father there hasn't been a feel-good story that feel good since Macaulay Culkin escaped from Neverland all right but just because we want to see it is not going to make it happen only bronnie James himself can do that Doc Rivers kid plays but not because his father played and so it's a great story in sports they don't tell each other stories they perform maybe that's why Sports looks to me at least on TV like a place that has really good race relations I mean where else do you see a grown black man crying over his white co-worker it's my quarterback on the field or court it's just about who can get me the ball who can score for our team when we need it they earn each other's respect and the love follows so why does America have that in sports something that is after all just a diversion but not for stuff that really matters 42 percent of private colleges admit applicants based almost entirely on the fact that their parents are alumni you get in if you work hard and your dad bought a building these are called legacy admissions although I will also accept entitled but it also must be said that in the interest of writing historical wrongs and evening out our despicable past the concept of Merit itself is now under attack everywhere but in sports instead of getting the kids who lag behind up to the higher standards schools all over are eliminating honors classes eighty percent of four-year colleges no longer require any standardized tests for admissions San Francisco's top-rated Lowell High School replaced merit-based admissions with a lottery in 2021 and the result was a three-fold increase in D's and F's turns out getting rid of Merit admissions just made kids feel worse about themselves and that's what Instagram is for at least 16 schools in Virginia are now under investigation for failing to give students their National Merit Scholarship Awards which are a big a big deal they can open a lot of doors academically and get you late at math camp foreign Governor there called it a maniacal focus on equal outcomes for all students at all costs you may not like him but that accusation strikes a lot of people as true and this is a bad issue for Democrats because most Americans seem to agree if they're on an airplane they want a cockpit that looks like America but they'd also like someone up there who knows how to fly the plane

Channel: Real Time with Bill Maher

Views: 1,696,094

Keywords:

Id: M4x2bOZgY4w

Length: 6min 51sec (411 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 24 2023

Reddit Comments

[u/[deleted]]

Nepotism is everywhere, especially in politics, business and Hollywood.

[u/wanderingartist]

I think Bill has gone senile. NEPO-Babies are everywhere and every sector.

[u/bigchicago04]

Is this a joke? Are you pretending nepo babies aren’t a thing??

[u/dantuba]

I don't understand the arguments here. It seems like everyone agrees: in sports or acting or politics or college, birthright can give a significant advantage to a few lucky ones.

I agree with Bill's first statement (about actors, but also applies to sports and everything else): enjoy your success, but don't pretend that you had zero advantages.

If you don't believe me about sports, imagine you are a high school track coach in Bermuda and learn that one of your new athletes is young Thunder Bolt (Usain's son). Of course you would have higher expectations, give a little extra attention, etc. It's absurd to pretend that training, nutrition, opportunity, and wealth (not to mention genetics) don't make a huge different in athletic success.

[u/Theaternearyou]

This was the nepo Girls meme sev years ago

[u/Longshanks123]

There is a lot of argument here about whether or not children of pro athletes becoming pro athletes themselves is nepotism or not, and I do see the nuance.

What I would say is that it’s not as simple as saying that because Ken Griffey Jr. deserved his success, then nepotism isn’t a thing in sports. Especially today, as opposed to when KGJ started out.

I’ll use hockey as an example, because it’s the sport I’m most familiar with. Becoming an NHL player starts with youth hockey, I’m talking 7-8 year olds even. There’s a path to the pros that involves playing in the right cities, in the right leagues, with the right teams and the right coaches. You have to attend certain hockey camps and make connections.

There are a limited number of spots on these “right” teams and camps, etc. the competition to get those spots is bad enough that there have been bribery scandals in AAA leagues for 10-12 year olds.

There are two kinds of kids who have no trouble getting the spots: truly elite young talents (super elite like Crosby and McDavid etc.), and the children of former NHL players. Former pros have the connections and money to make it happen. They are friends with the league organizers and coaches, not to mention teams like having NHL progeny on their rosters.

At the ages I’m talking about, it’s VERY easy to see how a kid who is just as good as another kid can be displaced if the other kid has the connections NHL royalty confers. And the consequences of that is that the other kids are cut off from the easiest routes of getting to the pros.

The main effect of nepotism in hockey isn’t that it gets a Matthew Tkachuk in the door, it’s who the door gets closed on in the early developmental leagues. And it’s a very real thing.

[u/VivaLosDoyers99]

Just because you do the same job as your parents, that doesn't make you a nepotism baby lol. If Ken Griffey Jr sucked he wouldn't have made the league.

Sure they were advantaged (financially, genetically, and having motivated parents) but that's not the same as nepotism.

If you want to find examples of nepotism in sports look in the front office, but Bobby and Barry Bonds aren't the example you are looking for lol.

(LeBron and give kid are the exception. If you draft LeBron kid you will get him as well)

[u/[deleted]]

He's not off at all. If Ken Griffey Jr. was not good at baseball, he would never have gotten a contract with any team. Nobody ever became a professional athlete because of who their parents are.

He made this point with Lebron's son. Did Bronny have advantages and resources to hone his basketball skills at a young age, yes of course, but if he doesn't perform at a professional level, he won't make the league, and it won't matter who his dad is.