Michael Douglas has slammed the nepo baby label as snotty, and he says so plainly. The Wall Street and Fatal Attraction star is 82, the son of screen legend Kirk Douglas, and a man whose family tree comes with its own spotlight. His timing is curious, because his memoir arrives on October 6 and his own children are now stepping onto stages and film sets. Family dinner talk must be lively.

While the label stings the Douglas household, the actor has plenty to say about why other industries get a free pass on family favors.

Michael Douglas has no patience for the nepo baby label, especially when it is used to describe his children following the family’s acting legacy. In an interview with The Sunday Times, the actor reflected on the criticism surrounding the children of established Hollywood stars. He explained why the term does not sit well with him, particularly when parents naturally help their children build careers.

“I really resented just even the idea. Snotty tone to it I really kind of resent” Douglas said.

He then pointed out that parents supporting their children is hardly unusual in other professions.

“In every other business, every mother and father helps their kids,” he added.

The Sunday Times interview filled in the rest of his argument. Douglas said few so-called nepos could point to a career on the scale of the one he and his late father built. Outside Hollywood, he explained, relatives are expected to match the success or continuity of the family firm, whereas acting criticises people for repeating it. Think of it as a family business with a very loud review section.

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While Douglas takes aim at the label with one sharp word, his wife had already reached for an even sharper one weeks earlier.

Catherine Zeta-Jones, who married Michael Douglas in 2000, called the nepo baby phrase horrific and horrible in a separate interview with The Sunday Times weeks earlier. Her reasoning is that children did not ask to be born into a famous household. They are finding their own way, she said, like any young adult trying to build a life. Her defence lands with extra weight because both of her children are working in acting.

Zeta-Jones said her children love acting and are good at it, and that she and Douglas would be the first to suggest law school if that changed. Dylan Michael Douglas, 26, graduated from Brown University in 2022 and landed a role in the thriller I Will Come to You last year. Carys Zeta Douglas, 23, made her stage debut in an off-Broadway production of Chekhov's The Seagull in July. The family business is open to a second generation, and Douglas has made it clear that the label attached to it is not welcome.

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What are your thoughts on Michael Douglas calling the nepo baby label snotty? Let us know in the comments.