Nepo Baby Jennifer Aniston Gets On High Horse About People “Famous For Basically Doing Nothing”
“You're famous from TikTok, you're famous from YouTube, you're famous from Instagram - it's almost like, it's diluting the actor's job".
Jennifer Aniston has been criticised for aggrandising comments about the changing face of fame in the 21st century, after calling out personas “famous for basically doing nothing”.
The actor sat down with Marvel’s Sebastian Stan in an interview for Variety and discussed Stan’s portrayal of Tommy Lee in 2022 series Pam and Tommy. Aniston weighed in on the cultural zeitgeist almost three decades ago when the show was set, discussing the fallout from Pamela Anderson’s sex tape leak in 1995.
“It was right at the time when the internet really shaped a new culture about people becoming famous,” she said.
“This thing of people becoming famous for basically doing nothing, but yet having these incredible careers. This thing of people becoming famous for basically doing nothing. I mean — Paris Hilton, Monica Lewinsky, all those.”
Jennifer Aniston tells Sebastian Stan her thoughts on the cultural shift of "people becoming famous for basically doing nothing" in the 1990s. https://t.co/rRF6CQaKo7 pic.twitter.com/EVHfbnEZTZ
— Variety (@Variety) June 9, 2022
“I feel so lucky that we got a little taste of the industry before it became what it is today,” the Friends star said.
“More streaming services, you’re famous from TikTok, you’re famous from YouTube, you’re famous from Instagram — it’s almost like, it’s diluting the actor’s job.”
Many were quick to point out that Aniston is in fact a nepotism baby, born to successful and established actors Nancy Dow and John Aniston — which would have helped her get a solid leg up when she was starting out in the industry.
Additionally, social media has liberated access to fame and influence in a way previously unattainable to all but a lucky few, while her reference of Lewinsky falls flat in the context that the White House intern never sought to be in the public eye, and was deeply affected by the relentless media attention after her affair with former President Bill Clinton came to light.
back in my day you needed to WORK to get famous from an all-caucasian tv show set in new york city https://t.co/GMckkfCOQX
— neal (@ne_al_) June 13, 2022
“Casting directors literally used to go up to pretty girls they randomly met, and offer them roles if they ‘said’ they could act,” said a a tweet in reply to Aniston’s comments.
“She ain’t lie, but at the same time she’s being selfish and speaking from a place of privilege as a white person,” said another user. “The world is changing, people need to eat, she needs to stop holding on that high moral ground of the importance of exclusivity. She should cheer for the accessibility.”
“She kind of has a point though. Trained actors and those just coming out of training have been getting sidelined for influencers with no training whatsoever for a while now,” someone else weighed in.
The pair also discussed the third season of The Morning Show, living in Europe, and Law and Order.
Watch the full interview here.