Quincy Jones would never let his nepo babies live like the rest of us paupers

Hey, any proud and protective dad would surely exploit his connections to help his kids live their dreams. As Rashida puts it, “Historically, people go into the family business more than they don’t.” But if your family business is run by Quincy freakin’ Jones, you can afford to dream bigger than most people do!

Rashida acknowledges that outsiders get both enjoyment and sometimes resentment out of a “legacy family” story. But in the past, she’s played the nepo baby party line, that old chestnut “nothing was ever handed to me.” In a 2011 NBC News interview, she said that the nepotism line has followed her through her career, joking, “I totally would have taken handouts. I didn’t get any. I wish! No I’m just kidding. Listen, I went to college, I had a great upbringing, I’m privileged, I wanted for nothing my entire life, but I definitely did not get career handouts. It took fifteen years to build a career which is what it should take.”

For InStyle, she says she didn’t truly become familiar with fame—which she calls “pretty poisonous”—until after The Office. “I wasn’t really in a place where people recognize me until I was in my 30s, which is a good thing, but it was also like a bit of a surprise,” Rashida explains. “By that point, you’re like, This is how I’m living my life. And then, all of a sudden, you’re walking in New York and you’re used to just walking on the streets, and then somebody’s watching you.”