O’Shea Jackson Jr. is a proud bearer of his nepo baby status: “A badge of honor”
Cocaine Bear star O'Shea Jackson Jr.'s nepo baby roots stem from his dad: rapper and actor Ice Cube
Aux News O'Shea Jackson Jr.
It’s no question that we’re living in the era of nepo babies, as finding someone in Hollywood with familial connections to the industry nowadays is as easy as heading to an actor’s IMDB page. While some celebrities vehemently deny the title and insist their parents had no influence on their careers, that is not the case for Cocaine Bear’s O’Shea Jackson Jr., who discussed his status as a nepo baby while visiting The Kelly Clarkson Show.
“I’m forever grateful for everything that my dad had to do to give me the opportunities that I have,” said Jackson about his dad, rapper and actor Ice Cube, who he portrayed in the N.W.A. biopic Straight Outta Compton. “If I were to run away from that or shy away from it in any way, in my eyes that’s disrespectful to everything he had to go through.”
He added, “He didn’t work as hard as he did for me to not accept and appreciate it.”
Instead of shying away from being considered a nepo baby, the Ingrid Goes West star embraces the term as a “badge of honor,” proudly repping his dad’s name.
“A lot of people, when they see me, naturally [they say], ‘Hey, you’re Ice Cube’s son,’” the Obi-Wan Kenobi actor continued. “You’re damn right I am, 100 percent, that’s my hero. That’s my coach. At the same time, the door can be open but you’ve got to walk through.”
Although he’s fully on board for claiming his status as a nepo baby, Jackson did register the challenge he faced in regards to people’s pre-conceived idea of him being entitled.
“I have a lot of people, they have an idea of what I’m going to be before I get to any set because of their idea of what my dad is,” said Jackson. “They think I’m coming to set feeling entitled, or I feel like I need to have ‘a posse’ of 15-20 people with me, straight rap stuff. But no, I’m here to work. I pride myself on my professionalism.”
This isn’t the first time Jackson’s dived into the nepotism baby conversation. In a series of tweets from December 2022, the Den Of Thieves actor opened up about having to audition for two years in order to play Ice Cube in Straight Outta Compton, saying “[Ice Cube] couldn’t hold my hand through my career.”
“I had to get my ass up and make it work,” wrote Jackson. “From the roles I chose. The work ethic I put into them. My professionalism on sets and promo tours. Even leaving HIS agency and goin to find a team of my own. Once the door was opened it was up to me to walk through it and thrive.”
He continued, “But none of that. NONE. OF. THAT. Happens that way without the love of my father. The work he put in to get us to a place of opportunity. And for me to ignore that or not accept and use as a guide would be foolish and disrespectful. I am grateful and I use his teachings daily.”
Even with the connection to his dad, Jackson has shown his ability to fit into pretty much any genre of film, whether it’s large-scale sci-fi blockbusters like Godzilla: King Of Monsters or as the quintessential rom-com bestie in Longshot. He’s now seen alongside fellow Star Wars alumni Alden Ehrenreich in Cocaine Bear, facing off against the drugged-out animal who had too much fun with their supply.
26 Comments
I wonder how he feels about his dad co-signing Trump.
he cries himself to sleep about it every night
Anyone complaining about “nepo babies” desperately needs to contract colorectal cancer.
Reminder, the problem isn’t the nepo babies.The problem is the ever increasing wealth discrepancy and the increasing gap between for anyone being able to chase dreams that aren’t supported by rich parents.
It’s such an odd thing to fixate on.Like…no shit! Networking is a thing!There’s a damn multibillion dollar website that helps people get jobs based on who they know, haha – it’s how I got my last two jobs…and before that, I worked for my dad.
Da REAL MVP!
This is so true. Here in the UK there’s a serious problem in the arts regarding placements for the working class. It feels like it won’t change in any artistic field. Musicians are more frequently middle-class and actors that have ever wealthier backgrounds feel like the norm now. Some of that is the way they attack the arts as a degree, where it’s seen as a sunk cost compared to a stem subject so only richer people are in a position to take that risk.
Oh, the UK acting scene is Eton all the way down.At least the Lir takes kids without rich parents.
That’s exactly the issue. And with the Tories seemingly declaring war on the art, cutting funding, etc. But hey, they want to promote Britishness, so yay…I wish they’d recognise that the rest of the world has the right of it, and the version of Britain we seem to be pushing is as much of a whitewash as we accuse others of. But that’s a different topic.Blegh. All that to say I agree. Hopefully if we get a change of government they might actually do something that feels like an actual bit of progress. Though I feel no government at this point will care much about arts beyond constantly yelling “we gave the world Shakespeare!”
I still don’t think it’s anymore fair than when white entertainers do it, and I’ll always be looking that much more intensely to see if they actually have their own well-earned chops. I think that Margaret Qualley, Zoe Kravitz, Elizabeth Owen make it work.
But you’ve got to admire Nicholas Cage for changing his name from Coppola for that very reason.
His name isn’t O’Shea Cube.
Zoey Deutch is Lea Thompson’s daughter!
I liked him in Ingrid Goes West.
I was coming into the comments to be like “Fuck Godzilla: King of the Monsters*, Ingrid Goes West gang, we outchea!”*I legit don’t remember him being in that?
it would be a slightly different story if he was rapping and not acting. i think he would have a much tougher time getting acceptance there.
Get O’Shea on the court and he’s trouble. Last week O’Shea messed around and got a triple double. I mean, he’s well known for freaking brothers everyway like MJ.
Just wakin’ up in the morning gotta thank DadI dunno, but today seems kinda radDog walker’s walking the dog, Bel Air is far from the smog, and the personal chef cooked a breakfast with no hog
Hot take: we do not live in the “era of nepo babies,” and if you care about this issue even a teeny tiny bit, congratulations, you are a fucking idiot.
“Hot take”You misspelled “correct take”
This is the right answer. To pretend his dad’s connections didn’t get him in the door would just make him look silly. But he’s got to deliver once he’s there or he won’t get cast. I have a hard time getting too mad at this since nepotism is rampant in every industry, right down to getting a union card. Maybe there are some crappier movie or TV productions that would sign him up for name recognition alone (though most people don’t know his dad’s real name) but if he’s a poor actor and a distraction on screen then nepotism is only going to carry him for a little while.Also, time for a phrase other than “nepo baby,” or at least stop leaning on it for every one of these stories. Some of these people would probably be useless without their parents but Jackson doesn’t strike me as one.
Agree, this is the right way to talk about it if you are someone who benefitted it. It shows an acceptance of the reality you live in, and gratitude for your family for the help they were able to provide, as well as understanding how difficult it can be for others. Also acknowledgement that they are serious about it and willing and able to do the work and the skills to stay there.
It’s when they try to pretend like it had no effect on them, or glean too hard on the “but my talent is what keeps me here!” while diminishing the “my connections got me to be seen at all” is when it gets bothersome. As you said, nepotism is in every industry, everywhere. It’s not new, this is just a public version of it. All we ask is for you guys who had it, to not shy away from it or pretend like it doesn’t exist.
My best friend from my masters is why I don’t work at the same company as the friend who I met in a sports bar, who is why I don’t work for my dad!
I’m a proud rememberer of being an AV Club commenter who didn’t have embedded video follow her as the scrolled down the page.
You can do it, put your ass into it.
The problem with nepotism whether you are proud of your parents, or whether you work hard, or whether you have talent. It’s whether we can do more to level the playing field for everyone who is talented and hard working, especially in a multi-billion dollar business.