Nepo babies have really been in the H๏τ seat over the last year – and now rather than rebuffing the idenтιтy, they are bragging about it.

In a new online trend, the offspring of the rich and famous are making their celebrity-heir status known thanks to the basketball term ‘air ball’ – a missed basket.

Among the nepo babies jumping on the trend are Ava Phillippe, the daughter of Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe, Francesca Scorsese and Jackson 5 star Randy Jackson’s daughter Zoë.

But perhaps winning the trend is Alianna Thiam – given that her dad Akon sings on the track being overlaid on the clips, Soul Survivor.

The clips show the nepo babies turn the joke on you for making an ‘airball’ – a very wrong, and seriously underestimated, ᴀssumption about what their parents do for work.

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In a new online trend, the offspring of the rich and famous are making their celebrity-heir status known thanks to the basketball term ‘air ball’ – a missed basket – including Reese Witherspoon’s daughter Ava (pictured)

Perhaps winning the trend is Alianna Thiam – given that her dad Akon sings on the track being overlaid on the clips, Soul Survivor

Taking to TikTok, Senegalese-American singer Akon’s daughter Alianna shared a picture of himself with the caption: ‘Told him my dad was in the music industry.’

In the next slide, Alianna could be seen taking a mirror selfie in a lavish apartment as she added a caption with her hypothetical date’s response: ‘He said “Oh like a manager?”‘ 

In a mic drop moment, Alianna’s final slide is a sweet picture of her hugging her famous father. Holyfknairball was hashtagged to call out the date’s conversational missed basket. 

Meanwhile Reese’s daughter Ava shared a selfie writing: ‘I told him my mom’s a lawyer.’

The next snap showed Ava and her mum on the set of the iconic film Legally Blonde, with the hypothetical person’s very incorrect response mistakenly ᴀssuming she means an actual lawyer.

The caption on the clip reads ‘He said “Oh what firm does she work at?”,’ and the third slide is the movie poster of Legally Blonde with ‘air ball’ written over the top.

‘Her law degree may not be real… but she did go to Stanford for a bit,’ Ava captioned the post. 

Next up was American Idol judge Randy Jackson’s daughter Zoë who put her own spin on the trend by leaving it ambiguous as to what kind of judge he is.  

Alianna Thian, Akon’s daughter, (pictured) could be seen taking a mirror selfie in a lavish apartment as she added a caption with her hypothetical date’s response: ‘He said “Oh like a manager?”‘ 

In a mic drop moment, Alianna’s final slide is a sweet picture of her hugging her famous father

Meanwhile Reese’s daughter Ava shared a selfie writing: ‘I told him my mom’s a lawyer’

The caption on the clip reads ‘He said “Oh what firm does she work at?”,’ and the third slide is the movie poster of Legally Blonde with ‘air ball’ written over the top

‘Her law degree may not be real… but she did go to Stanford for a bit,’ Ava captioned the post

‘I told him my dad was a judge,’ she said in the first clip, writing in the second: ‘He said “Cool! At which court”‘ She then added a snap of her dad on the talent show.

‘It’s gonna be a YES for me Dawg,’ Zoë captioned her take. 

And Academy Award-winning filmmaker Martin Scorsese’s daughter Francesca also got in on the action – saying she was ‘told to do this trend’.

‘I told him “My dad is a filmmaker”. He said “Oh nice like for commercials or something?”,’ before dropping a pH๏τo of the iconic director. 

The term nepo baby was coined by a Twitter user in 2022 who was shocked to learn their favourite actress had famous parents.

It sparked a fierce debate on whether the children of the rich and famous have been getting an unfair leg up.

But the nepo baby path to fame doesn’t always run smooth, with many forced to try their hand at several showbiz careers until they find one that sticks. 

In stark contrast to the air ball trend, some celebrity offspring have taken issue with being branded as such, with TV presenting duo Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan’s daughter Chloe going as far as to call the phrase a ‘dirty word’. 

Phoenix Brown, the daughter of Spice Girl Mel B, also recently slammed the ‘febrile and poisonous’ debate around nepo babies’ success in the entertainment industry.

She made headlines when she hosted an art exhibition only for it to be a ruse as part of a documentary on nepo babies.  

Next up was American Idol judge Randy Jackson’s daughter Zoë who put her own spin on the trend by leaving it ambiguous as to what kind of judge he is

‘I told him my dad was a judge,’ she said in the first clip, writing in the second: ‘He said “Cool! At which court”‘ She then added a snap of her dad on the talent show

‘It’s gonna be a YES for me Dawg,’ Zoë captioned her take

And Academy Award-winning filmmaker Martin Scorsese’s daughter Francesca also got in on the action

She shared her version saying she was ‘told to do this trend’

Daughter of Spice Girl Mel B, Phoenix Brown, 25, is fronting Channel 4 documentary Born in the Limelight – Nepo Babies: Untold, which first aired in October, and returns to screens again next Thursday. 

In the documentary Phoenix pretends to reinvent herself as an artist, using her mother’s name to stage an exhibition. She sells a painting for £2,000 – but an experts admits that without her famous name it would only be worth £30.  

But despite admitting that having Mel B as her mum has ‘opened doors’, Phoenix warns that the levels of ‘hate’ for nepo babies has never been so high following public obsession with the concept.

Meanwhile Brooklyn Beckham’s rise to nepo baby success comes after years of being the ʙuтт off the joke as he tried to launch various showbiz careers.  

The eldest child of David and Victoria Beckham has taken jibes in the past over his career changes, having first tried to follow in his footballer father’s steps before becoming an aspiring pH๏τographer and trying his hand at becoming a chef.

In 2017, the then-aspiring pH๏τographer released a book named What I See. While in 2020, he was also said to have signed to a major modelling agency, after receiving criticism over his pH๏τography.

Speaking to Grazia in November, Brooklyn addressed the nepo baby criticism, as he said: ‘Obviously I am one. But I couldn’t help how I was born, at all.’

While he understands why the public can feel irked by nepo babies, Brooklyn said he tries to ignore the ‘rubbish’ people say rather than dwell on it.

He added: ‘There’s always going to be people that say rubbish. But as long as you do something that makes you happy and you’re kind to people, that’s all that matters. I’m always gonna get it, no matter what I do. And I’m fine with that. It makes me work harder, because I’m like, I’m gonna prove these people wrong.’ 

When Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban’s daughter Sunday Rose, 16, made her catwalk debut for MiuMiu it didn’t get quite the breathless reception the brand was expecting. 

The teenager’s ‘stomping’ went viral on social media, with people critiquing her style and saying that she looked like a ‘petulant child’. 

In stark contrast to the air ball trend, some celebrity offspring have taken issue with being branded as such, with Phoenix Brown calling out the ‘hate’ 

TV presenting duo Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan’s daughter Chloe going as far as to call the phrase a ‘dirty word’ (Pictured together in 2013)

Her country singer father Keith, 57, jumped to her defence, and told People Magazine he is ‘very proud’ of his teen daughter but wants to protect her.

Kate Moss’s half-sister Lottie has also declared she is ‘sick of people blaming nepotism for why they aren’t rich and famous or successful’.

Lottie signed with Storm Management when she was just 14 years old and threw herself into modelling, but decided to quit pH๏τoshoots for OnlyFans in 2021.

Amid a storm of nepo baby criticism in 2022, Lottie said: ‘I’m so sick of people blaming nepotism for why they aren’t rich and famous or successful – obviously it’s not fair that people who come from famous families are getting a leg up because of that but guess what? 

‘Life isn’t fair – if you put your mind to something you can accomplish anything! So instead of being negative about other people’s success go and try and create your own!’

And while it was always her ambition to follow in her parents Richard and Judy’s footsteps and go into television, Chloe Madeley revealed she ‘hates’ being branded a nepo baby – and went as far as to describe it as a ‘dirty word’. 

Speaking to Olivia Attwood on the latest episode of her podcast, So Wrong It’s Right, Chloe said she finds it hard when people criticise her for being a child of nepotism.

She said: ‘Nepo baby is such a dirty word, and people don’t realise how hard it is to hear that about yourself, when you’re on the receiving end of it.’