Phoenix Brown is doing something revolutionary with her nepo baby label and status. Unlike the vast majority of the privileged offspring of Hollywood and entertainment industry darlings, she wants to talk openly about the privilege of being Mel B's daughter – and the wider issues around the nepo baby conversation – in a new documentary.
Born In The Limelight: Nepo Babies explores Phoenix's journey and experience of being a nepo baby, demonstrating nepotism at play and the ways in which inequality in the UK feeds into, complicates and exacerbates the issue. She tells GLAMOUR that the project started out with a “prank”, where she pretended to be an artist, using her celebrity and art contacts – garnered using nepotism – to sell extremely substandard art based on her name alone. In the documentary, her efforts stand in stark contrast to qualified-yet-struggling working class artist Betty, who does not benefit from the same connections.
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The narrative around nepo babies is full of stigma and taboo, with backlash and discourse surrounding the success of any Hollywood kid with connections. Phoenix reached out to 90 nepo babies to talk to her for the documentary, only one – a friend of her's, Jack Keating, son of Ronan Keating – responded.
Phoenix points out in the documentary and during her interview with GLAMOUR that nepotism exists across all industries and walks of life, and is part of a larger problem of inequality, particularly with certain industries being incredibly difficult to break without financial backing. “Nepotism plays into all roles,” she says. “Even if it's just a lower scale and not famously advertised, it's still nepotism.”
Phoenix sat down with GLAMOUR to talk about the importance of nepo babies accepting their privilege, the backlash she has faced and why her mum being “scary” gave her the tough skin she needed.
For your documentary, you reached out to 90 nepo babies and the majority wouldn’t participate – only one responded. Why do you think that is?
I mean, privacy, respect, backlash. I feel like there's a lot that goes into play when you're hit with such a hard question so publicly. So I get it. I respect it. I feel like if I had a different life, I'd probably feel the same in order to be so exposed. But I'm good for some exposing!
I feel like there's stigma and a harsh representation of nepo babies. When one nepo baby fails or something happens, people put that on every single one… I feel like everyone just needs to be a little bit more open-minded about everyone's life and character.
Unlike other nepo babies, you want to have this conversation. Why is that?
It's always a question [for me] in interviews. It's always there. What's the point of hiding from it if I respect it? I'm happy with what my mum did. I'm happy with what she's accomplished. Why should I hide from it? I'm not her. I'm gonna live my own life and be who I am, you know, and I have to respect if she brought me in.
Do you feel like nepo babies are doomed to be judged from the moment they come out the womb?
100%. But that comes with acceptance. You're born into this life and not chosen. But you've been given this life and you should be grateful and blessed. People ask me what it's like to be a nepo baby, I don't know any other life so I'm happy to be in this one, you know? You've got to play that card.
Was it empowering to make the documentary, and what empowers you personally?
It was so empowering to make – it took months of my life. I got to find out new things about myself, I got to have some breakdowns, have some happy times and I feel like that's always good for the soul. What empowers me the most right now… I would definitely say music 100%, I bang on my favourite song soon as I wake up, instantly, mood changing music for sure."
How has your mum been an inspiration to you?
I would say that she's scary as sh*t, but she's so scary to the point where you just gotta do it. There is no boundary for 'oh, you can't'. No, you gotta get up and do it. I used to get bullied, and she was like ‘clap back, stick up for yourself, don't be violent but say something, don't let someone just talk you down'. So I feel like the hard, legitimate, realistic love that she gave me just made me not want to, I don't know, be a little baby sometimes. I'm very emotional. I take my time with my feelings… but I feel like it's good to have that harder skin sometimes.
In the documentary, your mum talks about coming from a working class background, do you think that helped with your perspective on being a nepo baby and how to handle it and talk about it?
When I was like, maybe 11 years old, I needed some pocket money, trying to buy some snacks at school. So my mum's like, ‘all right, go walk the dogs on the street’. So my ass made flyers… And every day I got calls, and I [ended up with] seven dogs walking the streets, making absolute bank. I'm happy she did that, the she installed the 'I have money, doesn't mean you do' type of mindset.
It feels like you're all about acknowledging the privilege you do have…
I mean, I do give that to my dad, because [after my parents divorced] when I'd go to my dad's, he didn't have the big house, nice cars, he just had a normal, regular life. And so that kind of gave me the realness, like, 'okay, the big house doesn't mean happiness'. I have the best memories with my dad, but I didn't have all the luxury, so it didn't really matter. And then I'd go to my mum's, and I'd be like, ‘oh, we have the best time and the luxury’. So I realised it was just a nice add-on and a good plus to have in your life. I guess they both gave me the harsh reality of what you can and what you can't have.
What has been your biggest advantage of being a nepo baby?
I would say travelling at a young age, a lot of places in the world, I got to see a lot of things, fly a lot of cool places, cool planes and stuff. I feel like now I'm older I really take that to heart. Not a lot of people are fortunate enough to do that."
You speak in the documentary about everything you go through being public, how have you handled any backlash and stigma mental health wise?
I mean, it's pretty tough. Definitely, sports was a big helping hand. My friends, good family, food definitely always helped. I feel like just filling all your emptiness with things that make you happy goes a long way.
Have you had support from the other Spice Girls?
Mel C helped me with my DJing stuff, she's a saint. I love her always. All the girls are super supportive. I love Emma. I saw her not too long ago. They're just family, they were there when I was born. So it's hard to ignore that bond. They'll be there forever.
Your documentary feels like a rallying cry against inequality, would you call yourself an activist?
I wouldn't call myself an activist, but I would say that I stand up for what I believe in, even though that's probably the definition!
What would you say is the solution to the nepo baby backlash and moving on the conversation?
I would say the solution [feels] pretty far fetched to say right now. But I would say the stepping stones are just talking, sharing, being aware, acknowledgement and research, definitely… I feel like our generation, the younger generation, should be talking about it a lot more.
What advice would you give to other nepo babies?
I would say don't hide it. Don't be shamed. There's nothing to be ashamed about, you have a beautiful life, a beautiful family that gave you this life. Just be proud. Be proud until you mess up.
What is your own relationship with social media like?
I don't like social media. I'm not a social media person. I like it because I get to connect with people and hear people's stories and talk to them without seeing them. I think that's awesome, but I feel like it's a very dark place if you don't know how to handle it, and if you don't have outside activities and outside passions, I feel like you can definitely get swallowed up in it. I've been there many times. It's a hard one, because it's a good thing and it's a bad thing. You just need to balance it.
There's such a force that social media has against the younger generation, our generation, everyone. I feel like we listen to it too much. As soon as social media is like, 'this person's bad, this nepo baby said this', we don't do our own research. We just agree.
What's next for you?
Presenting is definitely in the ball game. I love it. I had so much fun doing the documentary. So I think that one is going to be top priority list. I have two tracks I want to release, music is always going to be there.
What message or lesson do you hope audiences take from the documentary?
I hope people just ask more questions. That they give more whys and more acknowledgement to the actual subject of inequality and nepotism as a whole, not just label people.
Phoenix Brown's ‘Born In The Limelight: Nepo Babies - UNTOLD’ is available to stream now on Channel 4 and airs on Thursday 16 January at 12:05am.
