Nepo babies have never faced ‘so much hate’, claims Mel B’s daughter as she opens up about the struggles of having famous parents in Channel 4 documentary

Mel B’s daughter has claimed nepo babies have ‘never faced so much hate’ as she opened up about the struggles of having famous parents.

Phoenix Chi Gulzar, 25, is the frontman of Channel 4 documentary Born in the Limelight – Nepo Babies: Untold, which first aired in October and returns to screens next Thursday.

The debate surrounding ‘nepo babies (nepotism)’ has taken the world by storm in recent years, with many in the spotlight thinking they had been given an advantage by their famous parents.

New York magazine even declared 2022 the “year of the nepo baby,” with examples including Lily-Rose Depp, Kaia Gerber and Dakota Johnson.

In the documentary, Phoenix warns that ‘hatred’ for nepobabies has never been higher due to the public’s obsession with the concept.

She also wonders why society has accepted the ‘ultimate nepo baby’ Prince William, while celebrities like Brooklyn Beckham have come under fire.

Speak with Radio times Speaking at the documentary’s release, she said: ‘I can’t deny that having Mel B as my mother has opened a few doors.

‘However, in recent years there has been increasing anger over what appears to be more and more children of famous people making it in the entertainment industry.

“Even when nepobabies are good at their job, they face backlash fueled by misunderstanding, jealousy, or resentment. The issue has never generated so much hatred or become so feverish and toxic.”

In the documentary, she asks, “I wonder why society has accepted the ultimate nepo baby in the royal family, but not in the celebrity world?”

‘Nepotism is everywhere, no matter what area you work in. However, the entertainment industry is very visible.

“It’s clear there’s a problem… but targeting nepo babies as individuals won’t get us anywhere. We need to explore the bigger social issues.”

She argued that young aristocrats who receive money from trust funds are no different from the children of celebrities, but they manage to avoid criticism.

She added: ‘We compared the most famous aristo-nepo Prince William and the most iconic celeb-nepo, Brooklyn Beckham.’

Phoenix and the team found that 51 percent of comments about Beckham were negative, compared to just 35 percent of those from Prince William.

Furthermore, two percent of Brooklyn comments directly referenced the word “nepotism” – 20 times more than that of the Prince of Wales.

Prince William, 42, spent two years as a pilot for the East Anglican Air Ambulance and served in the RAF before stepping down to focus on royal duties full-time.

Meanwhile, Brooklyn has come under fire for his attempts to launch separate careers outside the influence of his footballer father David, 49, and Spice Girl singer mother Victoria, 50.

The 25-year-old previously failed to build a career in football and photography, prompting him to release the book What I See in 2017.

More recently, as an aspiring chef, he launched a new range of hot sauces under his Cloud23 brand.

In the documentary, Phoenix pretends to reinvent herself as an artist and uses her mother’s name to organize an exhibition. She sells a painting for £2,000, but one expert admits it would be worth just £30 without her famous name.

She admitted that she ‘can’t deny that having Mel B as my mother has opened a few doors’ in her work as a DJ and presenter.

The documentary also features Jack Keating, the son of Boyzone singer Ronan, who appeared on Love Island in 2022.

He revealed that his father’s connection had landed him a job at a Dublin radio station, and opened up about the criticism he had received for his appearance on the ITV dating show – which viewers attributed to his famous father.

Young DJ Phoenix, who is close friends with the Beckham children, said she approached 90 children with celebrity parents for her new documentary, but only one of them agreed to talk to her on camera.

Earlier in September, Miss Brown landed a TV deal after a successful stint on Gogglebox with her mother.

In October she starred in her own Channel 4 documentary about the success of nepotism – Born in the Limelight Nepo Babies: UNTOLD.

The term ‘Nepo-Baby’ was coined in 2022 by a Twitter user who was shocked to learn that their favorite actress had famous parents. A fierce debate ensued over whether the descendants of the rich and famous have been given an unfair advantage.

Miss Brown is Mel B’s firstborn, conceived during her short-lived marriage to Dutch backup dancer Jimmy Gulzar.

The pop star has two other daughters, Angel Murphy Brown, 17, with Eddie Murphy, and Madison Brown Belafonte, 11, with her ex-husband Stephen Belafonte.

Last year, Phoenix flew the nest to move in with her boyfriend last year, but she recently revealed that the real reason she moved was to avoid seeing her famous mother in her underwear.

During an appearance on Romesh Ranganathan’s TV show Parents Evening, talk turned to underwear, while fellow guest on the show Richard Madeley admitted he no longer wears boxers because he finds them too uncomfortable.

Richard said: ‘In my early thirties I found boxers, parakeet smugglers and all that, just annoying – so I got rid of them and I’ve never looked back.’

Mel B agreed with the host: “In general, I like things to feel free.”

Her embarrassed daughter Phoenix then confirmed: ‘She does, and that’s why I moved out.’

It comes after Phoenix revealed how she grew up and found life as the daughter of a Spice Girl harder than people might think.

She explained that despite having a famous mother, she was unpopular at school and struggled to make friends, but has since been able to develop a successful career thanks to her status as Mel’s daughter.

The aspiring artist said The mirror in an exclusive interview that having famous parents made her time at school difficult as she couldn’t take Mel B to parents’ evenings or events.

She added that at one point the bullying became so bad that a ‘We hate Phoenix club’ was formed at her school in the US.

Despite the difficult time at school, Phoenix admitted that it got easier as she got older and she developed a thicker skin, but believes she was also targeted because of her race.

Born in the Limelight – Nepo Babies: Untold airs on Thursday January 16 on Channel 4.