I dont know if anyone has seen a child do something before, but it is generally accepted that they are not very good at doing, well, anything at all.
And so, when a 10-year-old North West performed as Young Simba duringThe Lion Kings 30th-anniversary concert in Los Angeles last weekendand did not immediately demonstrate the same vocal prowess as the 42-year-old Jennifer Hudson, another performer that eveningI was not especially surprised.
The entertainment factor of a childs performance tends to have more to do with noveltylook at this child doing a grown-up thing!than true professional excellence.
Photo: Getty Images
That one-song cameo was enough to reignite all the discourse surrounding nepo babiesand the outsized opportunities afforded to the children of famous peoplewith hundreds of armchair critics claiming North was cast not because of talent but because her parents are billionaire celebrities.
But heres the thing: even the most seasoned of casting directors would struggle to find someone better suited to singing the words I Just Cant Wait to Be King than the crown princess of the Kardashian empire.
Someone who takes real glee in dethroning her mother on TikTok live and who once described Kims 2023 Met Gala gown as looking as though it had been purchased from the dollar store.
Precocious scion is a role that North West was uniquely positioned to inhabit, and Im sorry if the truth of her Young Simbalike so many great theatrical performancesfelt unsettling to some.In all seriousness, while I am not interested in defending nepo babies (some are going to inherit their parents talent, while others are going to spend their whole lives in the miserable shadow of their surname), it is particularly galling to see adults take so much pleasure in surveilling young children online.
Blue Ivy suffered the same fate when she performed on BeyoncesRenaissancetour and discovered that people on social media were disappointed in her 12-year-old dance movesand questioning whether shed really earned her place onstage.
Frankly, what do we want from the children of famous people if not to sing for their suppers (and place in the spotlight)?
