Meet the ‘nepo pets’ who reached celeb status thanks to their famous owners
Take a look at these su-paw-stars.
Nepo babies were at one point the center of the cultural zeitgeist. Now, there’s a new category of nepotism for the internet to obsess over: “nepo pets.”
Nepo pets are the fur babies that ride the cat-tails of their celebrity owners’ success and reach celebrity status of their own — as the celeb’s partner-in-crime or even sometimes becoming more popular than their owners.
Meet the nepo pets that have the pup-arazzi all over them:
Claudia Schiffer’s cat Chip
Claudia Schiffer brought her feline cat to the red carpet for the premiere of the film “Argylle” in London’s Leicester Square, introducing the nepo pet to the world.
The 53-year-old German actress and model’s black and grey Scottish Fold named Chip has his own Instagram account with 14,900 followers, but he’s more than Insta famous.
His Instagram bio reads, “Star of @argyllemovie, author, model, entrepreneur, influencer, nepo kitty.”
Chip made his Hollywood debut after being cast in the film directed by Schiffer’s husband, Matthew Vaughn.
He also has a “paw-tobiography” called “Blue Chip: Confessions of Claudia Schiffer’s Cat.”
Taylor Swift’s cats Meredith Grey, Olivia Benson and Benjamin Button
Taylor Swift’s three cats are well known among her fans — but they also have a pretty impressive net worth.
Swift, 34, is now estimated to be worth $1.1 billion, according to Forbes, yet her cat Olivia Benson is one of the world’s richest cats.
The Scottish Fold, named after Mariska Hargitay’s “Law & Order: SVU” character, that she adopted in 2014 has an estimated net worth of $97 million.
According to a list of the world’s wealthiest pets compiled by AllAboutCats.com, Benson “earned her fortune starring alongside her owner in several music videos” as well as “crafted her own merchandise line, and has had cameos in many big-budget ads, including for the likes of Diet Coke and Ned Sneakers.”
It’s unclear exactly how much Swift’s cats Meredith Grey and Benjamin Button are worth, but they’re worth a pretty penny.
Benjamin Button recently joined Swift in her photoshoot for TIME’s 2023 Person of the Year, and one of the three collectible magazine covers showed the “Anti-Hero” singer posing with Benjamin draped around her neck, and fans on social media went crazy.
Ed Sheeran’s cats Calippo and Dorito
Ed Sheeran’s cats have their own Instagram account to give an insight into their lives as the pets of a famous singer.
The felines seem to cause some ruckus when left alone and have even knocked over some of the “Photograph” singer’s decorations.
Calippo and Dorito have been lucky enough to meet some of their human friends, including Elton John. The cat sat in Elton’s arms seemingly unfazed by the presence of a music legend.
Meghan Markle’s dog Guy
Guy Markle was adopted by Meghan Markle in 2015 when she was still acting.
After being abandoned in Kentucky, Guy found himself at A Dog’s Dream Rescue shelter in Toronto, Canada, where Markle adopted him.
Guy (and Markle) married into the Royal Family and moved into Kensington Palace with Prince Harry.
The pup of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex has a children’s book about the his wags-to-riches life story called, “His Royal Dogness, Guy the Beagle: The Remarkable True Story of Meghan Markle’s Rescue Dog.”
Justin Theroux’s dog Kuma
Actor Justin Theroux’s pitbull Kuma was rescued from A Chance To Bloom Dog Rescue in 2018.
The Texas-based non-profit organization rescued Kuma from a kill shelter after finding her among destruction by Hurricane Harvey in 2017.
Now, Kuma can be seen slobbering at restaurants in Manhattan.
Karl Lagerfeld’s cat Choupette
The late Karl Lagerfeld’s cat Choupette is an icon in the fashion world, and while Lagerfeld is one of the most influential people in the history of fashion, Choupette is also famous on her own.
The cat has 263,000 followers on Instagram, has her own agent — and even inherited $1.5 million from her late owner when he died in 2019.
In 2014 alone, the blue-eyed Birman cat netted more than $4 million for modeling gigs. According to The Economic Times, Choupette currently has an inherited net worth of $13 million.
Choupette was in a way the star of the show at last year’s Met Gala, where the theme was Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty.
Many A-listers paid tribute to the infamous cat in their outfits — and Jared Leto even showed up in a full Choupette cat costume.