Nigerian actress and media personality Temi Otedola has said she has no problem being described as a “nepo baby,” insisting she will never deny the privileges that came with her family background.
Speaking on a recent episode of The How Far Podcast, which she co-hosts with her husband, Mr Eazi, Temi said acknowledging privilege is simply being truthful and does not diminish personal achievements.
The daughter of billionaire businessman Femi Otedola argued that privilege extends beyond having well-known parents, noting that financial stability, access to quality education and a comfortable upbringing also provide significant advantages.
“You don’t have to be famous to be privileged. Privilege is growing up in a situation where your parents had a certain amount of money, you didn’t have to struggle, and you had access to education, food and a foundation in life that not everybody gets,” she said.
Using a hypothetical scenario, Temi explained that nepotism occurs when family connections create opportunities that others may not have.
“If our child wanted to become an artiste, you would introduce them to a producer and pay for their music video. That is an unfair advantage. That is nepotism,” she said.
She maintained that she would never deny benefiting from such advantages.
“You can never catch me, on camera or off camera, saying I’m not a nepo baby. I find it crazy when people don’t admit to the advantage. It would be so unfair to say that,” she said.
Temi, however, emphasised that recognising privilege does not mean a person has not worked hard to succeed.
“At the end of the day, I was given a leg up and I’ve made the most of it. I don’t know why it’s so hard for people to say that. I think it’s because they feel it discounts what they’ve achieved in life.
“I definitely got lots of privileges as a result of the hard work that came before me,” she added.