Is Billie Eilish a nepo baby?!
Even though her mom Maggie Baird and her dad Patrick O’Connell are both working actors, and have been for the entirety of their adult lives in Hollywood, the superstar singer’s momma says NO! And it is a confident, resounding, unwavering “no” at that!
Related: Billie Eilish Cuts Ties With Music Mogul Over ‘Serial Cheater’ Claims!
So, on Thursday, Glamour ran a fascinating feature piece for their Women of the Year issue. In it, they focused on the mothers of four famous people: Tina Knowles (Beyoncé), Donna Kelce (Travis Kelce), Mandy Teefey (Selena Gomez), and Baird. The mag asked the women what it was like to raise such world-famous superstars. And they also asked the women about things like the nepo baby question!
The convo came about because Baird appeared once on a 1999 episode of Friends. In that episode, which has since resurfaced and gone viral multiple times online, the bad guy singer’s momma plays a casting director working with Matt LeBlanc‘s character Joey Tribbiani on an audition he must ace to keep his actor’s union health insurance. The irony, though, is that at the time, Maggie only got that episode of Friends because she was about to lose her health insurance! Life imitating art… and not in such a good way!
Reflecting on that situation in light of the “nepo baby” accusations thrown at her daughter now, Baird said:
“I think it’s hilarious. Because that came out, and it was like, ‘Oh, Billie is a nepo baby.’ And I’m like, ‘Did you know that I got that episode of Friends because I was about to lose my health insurance?'”
The proud parent, who is also mom to musician Finneas O’Connell, argued that she and her husband “are working class actors” and very far from the rich stars that some people make them out to be. She noted:
“We eked out a meager living, and it afforded us a lot of time with our kids, which was awesome. But the industry is primarily people like us or even people not even like us who couldn’t even do that. So when all of this happened to our kids, we’d never been on that side of it.”
Now, to be fair, her film and TV credits are pretty extensive. Baird was active on screen from the 1980s through the 2010s, and appeared in everything from Charmed and Curb Your Enthusiasm to The X-Files, The West Wing, and many other productions. But the vast majority of her on-screen gigs were NOT in leading roles. And thus, she did not see those assumed huge paydays! She argued:
“I think that people don’t really understand there’s a whole industry of people who are creative and they’re working and they’re struggling, and they make perfectly happy lives, and they feel creative, and they feel fulfilled. But that’s a very different life than on this side of the door where you’re suddenly playing in this different arena.”
In the end, Baird also pontificated that her links to the television and film world “probably had nothing to do” with Billie’s (and Finneas’) massive success in music. She reasoned:
“That probably had nothing to do with what happened because that success was all them. But I do think it’s important. I think it’s important that as you are hoping your children go much farther than you, you still have your own life. You can still do; you can create. It’s equally important.”
You can read the Glamour piece HERE, btw.
It’s definitely an interesting take, that is for sure. As Maggie rightly notes, there are plenty of thespians in her boat. The vast majority of actors and actresses are not rich, or anywhere close to it. Still, do U agree with this sentiment, Perezcious readers? Are you ready for Billie to shed the nepo baby label, or nah?? Sound OFF with all of your reactions down in the comments (below)…
[Image via MEGA/WENN]