Who are Lily Allen's parents? Nepo baby comments controversy explained as singer's rant goes viral

Actress and musician Lily Allen recently defended “nepo babies,” while speaking about nepotism in Hollywood in the wake of New York magazine’s “Year of the Nepo Baby” cover story. Nepo babies is a term used to define children who have famous parents.

Allen took to Twitter to share that critics should be more concerned about “nepo babies” who are working on politics, banks, and legal firms. She said that instead of being worried about the children of Hollywood celebrities they should be worried about the aforementioned people having "real world consequences" by robbing people of opportunities.

The actress also mentioned that despite being a star-kid herself, she can be the first person to say that she doesn't deserve anything.

She also responded to a Twitter user who asked why the name of the actress’ parents contains blue links on Wikipedia. Allen proudly called herself a “nepo baby” once again while saying that her parents are “talented."

Lily Allen is the daughter of film producer Alison Owen and actor Keith Allen. In her now-viral comments about star-kids, she said that the children of Hollywood stars are often starved of love and nurturing:

“In childhood we crave stability and love, nurturing. We don’t care about money or proximity to power yet. Many of the nepo babies are starved of these basic things in childhood as their parents are probably narcissistic.”

The artist also added that these children sometimes suffer from “childhood trauma” as the entertainment industry is not “parent friendly”:

“And entertainment business is not parent friendly eg. Touring/ months away shooting. It can be hard to see one’s own privilege when you’re still processing childhood trauma, and a lot of these kids haven’t figured that out yet.”

Lily Allen’s remarks on "nepo babies" went viral on social media and sparked a debate online.

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Twitter reacts to Lily Allen’s nepotism comments

Lily Allen recently took to Twitter to call out people who criticize “nepo babies” or children of Hollywood celebrities. The term “nepotism baby” often refers to children who are born into famous families and establish a career in a similar field of work as their parents or family members.

The actress-musician has claimed that the entertainment industry often causes the children of celebrities to have “childhood trauma.” She also argued that these kids often lack proper love and nurturing as their parents are mostly away for filming.

Allen’s remarks sparked an immediate debate on social media, with many claiming that the artist had professional benefits due to the industry connections she made with the help of her celebrity parents, Keith Allen and Alison Owen.

As reactions continued to pour in online, Allen responded to the backlash by saying that she had worked “extremely hard” to establish a career in the entertainment industry and that she “deserved” the success she earned.

The performer reflected on her music career and said that she garnered significant success as people “connected” with her songs. Allen also revealed that she had “fraught relationships” with some of her family members and found it difficult to attribute her success to them in her early days:

Although Lily Allen admitted that there is a “lack of representation” in the industry surrounding race and class, she claimed that “nepo babies” are often “scapegoated.” While Allen said that she is “not rooting” for an industry full of nepotism kids, she mentioned that “nepo babies have feelings.”

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A look into Lily Allen’s family and background

Lily Allen was born to actor Keith Allen and producer Alison Owen (Image via Getty Images)

Lily Allen was born on May 2, 1985, to film producer Alison Owen and Welsh-born actor Keith Allen. She grew up with her sisters Sarah and Rebecca and her brother Alfie, who is also an actor and known for playing Theon Greyjoy in Game of Thrones.

Allen is the goddaughter of Wild Colonials vocalist Angela McCluskey and the third-cousin of musician Sam Smith. According to IMDb, the actress first appeared onscreen as a child artist with background roles in her father’s projects, including an episode of The Comic Strip Presents… TV show.

However, Keith reportedly left the family when Allen was four years old. Her family eventually started living with comedian Harry Enfield, who was dating her mother at the time.

According to The Daily Mail, Lily Allen previously said that during her childhood she would often spend weekends in a hotel room above the Groucho club with a Toblerone.

The Not Fair hitmaker also revealed in old interviews that her parents' 1989 separation left her insecure. She also faced abandonment issues after moving out Enfield’s home following his break-up with her mother.

Last year, Allen opened up about her strained relationship with her biological father and told The Telegraph that they “haven’t spoken in a while”:

“I haven't really spoken to him, to be honest, for a while. The last time I texted him was on Father's Day and he texted back saying 'Thank you.' We haven't connected for a while.”

Speaking about her relationship with her father, Allen said that she wanted to develop a bond with him during her teenage years:

“I was close with him and in my teenage years I really wanted to forge a relationship with him so I used to go and watch Fulham play every Saturday with him and his mates and things were really good at a certain point.”

Meanwhile, Allen mentioned that her mother continues to be supportive of her decisions and career choices. The actress has previously appeared in two of her mother’s films, Elizabeth and How to Build a Girl.

Lily Allen also has a family of her own and is now a proud mother to two children. She shares daughters Marnie and Ethel with former partner Sam Cooper and is currently married to Stranger Things star David Harbour.