The Assignment with Audie Cornish
Sep 11, 2026 · 31 min · 19 segments
Nepo babies have sparked debate for years, but chart-topping singer-songwriter Stella Lefty, who also happens to be the daughter of a billionaire, is reigniting the conversation. Audie and Ari debate…
Audie CornishHost
Ari ShapiroHost
People have a lot to say about nepotism these days, and they're talking about it a little differently from the sort of, is your dad at the country club joking of yore? It's a completely different sort of dialogue that hinges on the idea of talent versus no talent, and it is surfacing most specifically in pop music.
Yeah, right now, Stella Lefty, who you might have heard of because her hit song, Boston, has been on the Billboard charts for more than 20 weeks, peaking at number two.
Her dad is a billionaire, co-founder of Groupon, CEO of an AI company, and so people are asking whether she came by her fame and success legitimately or not.
Which, Audie, I think is a different way of talking about Nepo babies than we have in the past.
In the past, it has often been, your parents were in the movies, your grandparents were in the movies, now you're a movie star, did you earn that? But what makes Stella Lefty different is that she's in the music industry, her billionaire father is not in the music industry, but he's a billionaire and people are applying the same term to her that they apply to people like Patrick Schwarzenegger from The White Lotus, whose father, Arnold Schwarzenegger, was the AIA.
So first, there's the difference between Gracie Abrams, singer, and Stella Lefty.
Be honest, I've never been one of those, like, fucking Epobaby type people.
Like, if you're talented, you're talented.
You get up who your parents are.
What are you supposed to do? I spit on your billions.
I spit on your support.
Like, I respect it.
People have a lot to say about nepotism these days, and they're talking about it a little differently from the sort of, is your dad at the country club joking of yore? It's a completely different sort of dialogue that hinges on the idea of talent versus no talent, and it is surfacing most specifically in pop music.
Yeah, right now, Stella Lefty, who you might have heard of because her hit song, Boston, has been on the Billboard charts for more than 20 weeks, peaking at number two.
Her dad is a billionaire, co-founder of Groupon, CEO of an AI company, and so people are asking whether she came by her fame and success legitimately or not.
Which, Audie, I think is a different way of talking about Nepo babies than we have in the past.
In the past, it has often been, your parents were in the movies, your grandparents were in the movies, now you're a movie star, did you earn that? But what makes Stella Lefty different is that she's in the music industry, her billionaire father is not in the music industry, but he's a billionaire and people are applying the same term to her that they apply to people like Patrick Schwarzenegger from The White Lotus, whose father, Arnold Schwarzenegger, was the AIA.
So first, there's the difference between Gracie Abrams, singer, and Stella Lefty.
Be honest, I've never been one of those, like, fucking Epobaby type people.
Like, if you're talented, you're talented.
You get up who your parents are.
What are you supposed to do? I spit on your billions.
I spit on your support.
Like, I respect it.
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