Maya Hawke

During promotion of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Hawke emphasised that she had auditioned. Her casting, while her mother Uma Thurman was a prominent Quentin Tarantino collaborator, was nevertheless cited as an example of Hollywood nepotism. In 2024, Hawke acknowledged that she believed she had indeed benefited from nepotism in securing the role.

State of the evidence

Admitted by the person

Attribution

Directly implicated

Wildcat, a project about Flannery O'Connor that Maya Hawke said she had carried with her for years, was directed by her father Ethan Hawke, with Maya in the lead role. The collaboration was explicitly discussed in the press as a case of nepotism, with Ethan himself joking that he was a 'nepo dad'.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

Several critics considered that Wildcat failed sufficiently to confront Flannery O'Connor's documented racist views or portrayed the writer as more opposed to the prejudices of her time than she really was. The issue was particularly sensitive because Maya Hawke had initiated the project and portrayed O'Connor as well as several characters from her short stories.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Shared responsibility