1.
In one of the crucial iconic examples, Victoria Beckham claimed that she grew up “working class” within the documentary Beckham. Her husband David rapidly took subject with this, pushing Victoria to confess to the kind of automobile her father, an electronics engineer, drove her to highschool in…a Rolls-Royce.
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Regardless of how he was portrayed in Straight Outta Compton, Ice Dice wasn’t truly from Compton. He was born in Baldwin Hills and raised in South Central Los Angeles, and his mother and father each had secure jobs working at UCLA. He attended George Washington Preparatory Excessive Faculty and later was bused to William Howard Taft Constitution Excessive Faculty in suburban Woodland Hills. He then earned a level in architectural drafting. Many colleagues have questioned his avenue cred. Rapper Kam mentioned in a diss observe, “It is a disgrace you bought wealthy off our stress and strife, / you ain’t by no means gang banged in your life,” and each Kam and DJ Alonzo Williams referred to him as an “actor.”
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Whitney Cummings has repeatedly mentioned that she was poor as a child, stating that she cherished Roseanne as a result of “I grew up poor, and that was the primary present that seemed like my home. It was the primary present that did not make me really feel unhealthy about myself.” She’s additionally listed the “poor folks meals” she ate, like cereal, peanut butter and jelly (or banana) sandwiches, and fish sticks. Whereas she admitted her mother was a Neiman Marcus publicist and her dad was a “enterprise capitalist,” she mentioned it was extra that he referred to as himself that and would borrow and lend cash till it was gone. She mentioned the warmth did not work in her home, that she usually had lice, and that she usually ate at neighbors’ homes since her mother and father did not feed her.
Nonetheless, the backstory feels shaky at greatest. Cummings grew up in Georgetown (a rich space), attended St. Andrew’s Episcopal Faculty (round $50,000 in yearly tuition), had her personal horse, after which went to UPenn, an Ivy League college. Whereas it could possibly be that her circumstances drastically modified in the midst of her childhood (she did state she moved in together with her sister earlier than highschool), it definitely does not appear to be she grew up in poverty. This early Washington Put up interview states Cummings grew up “in relative consolation padded by free lotions, perfumes and garments from Bloomingdale’s and Neiman Marcus.”
4.
In his track “Juicy,” Biggie Smalls claimed that he was so poor rising up that he would eat sardines for dinner. He additionally mentioned they’d skip Christmas and had no warmth. However his mom, Voletta Wallace, later claimed this wasn’t true, denying that he ever needed to eat sardines for dinner. They probably did not have a good time Christmas as a result of his mom was a Jehovah’s Witness.
Biggie additionally went to non-public college, and the “one room shack” he referenced in his music was truly an house in Brooklyn (it has been renovated, although it was clearly by no means a “shack”). He was described by the New Yorker as “center class.”
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Bob Dylan has been caught in various lies about his childhood. For instance, he as soon as claimed that he did not know his mother and father — across the identical time, he was placing them up in resorts and alluring them to his exhibits. He additionally as soon as claimed he was raised in New Mexico and sang for a touring carnival from the ages of 13 to 19 — and that he used to show “tips in Occasions Sq. to make ends meet.” None of that is true.
He additionally modified his identify and the way in which he talked and dressed to higher emulate Woody Guthrie and claimed he had a troubled childhood. The consequence was that Dylan had the persona of a working-class man from the American West and never that of a largely suburban, middle-class child from upstate Minnesota, near Canada.
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Lana Del Rey’s music usually paints an image of a “white trash” lady who got here from a low-income household out west or in Florida and lived in a trailer park — which followers have contradicted after studying her father is now a millionaire. Nonetheless, Del Rey maintains that her father made his cash after she grew to become an grownup, saying that she grew up in considered one of “probably the most rural locations in America” (Lake Placid) and that her household “had completely no cash.” Whereas she did go to an elite boarding college, she mentioned it was by means of her uncle working there and that she acquired monetary assist.
Nonetheless — Del Rey did not truly dwell in a trailer park till she was an grownup when she used cash from her first album deal to purchase a trailer. For a lot of followers, studying she lived in a “little mountain city” in New York State and attended boarding college shattered the phantasm of Del Rey’s upbringing.
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Child Rock equally constructed a picture round being poor and coming “straight out the trailer” — when in actuality, he was born to millionaire mother and father and lived on an property in Michigan with an entire visitor home, apple orchard, horse stables, and personal tennis courts. His father reportedly had a second residence in Jupiter Island, Florida.
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Ed Sheeran has spoken a number of occasions about couch-surfing and never having anyplace to dwell when he was first making an attempt to make it, each when he moved to London and when he moved to LA. In London, he even mentioned he used to sleep in an arch with a heating duct outdoors Buckingham Palace. He even wrote the track “Homeless” there. He additionally would sleep on the practice after gigs. “I spent per week catching up on sleep on Circle Line trains. I might exit and play a gig, wait till 5 a.m. when the Underground opened, sleep on the Circle Line till 12, go to a session — after which repeat. It wasn’t that unhealthy. It isn’t like I used to be sleeping tough on the chilly streets.”
Sheeran, who was born to rich mother and father, additionally mentioned, “I did not have anyplace to dwell for a lot of 2008 and the entire of 2009 and 2010, however in some way I made it work. I knew the place I may get a mattress at a sure time of night time, and I knew who I may name at any time to get a flooring to sleep on. Being sociable helped. Consuming helped.” Later, after folks identified his privilege and parentage, he mentioned headlines that he’d referred to as himself “homeless” had taken his quotes out of context. “Everybody’s saying ‘Ed Sheeran was homeless’ — I by no means mentioned that within the e-book. I went and not using a mattress for some nights, that is it.”
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In an outdated interview to advertise their then-upcoming present, Protecting Up with the Kardashians, Khloé, Kim, Kourtney, and Kris spoke about their upbringing. Within the clip, Kourtney tried to shatter the concept that they have been all the time wealthy by saying she was minimize off in her early 20s.
Kim adopted up by saying it was truly tougher for them to develop up privileged as a result of it created an expectation for a sure life-style they needed to preserve. She additionally claimed “most individuals are doing nothing” and appeared to suppose it was novel that she was working at 16.
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Years later, Kardashian ultimately acknowledged her privilege rising up however then appeared to insinuate they really had a tough monetary upbringing. “Yeah, we grew up privileged, however folks do not know the story of [Caitlyn Jenner] and Mother having to promote their home in Hidden Hills as a result of they could not afford it and so they needed to transfer to an house,” she mentioned on her actuality present. This info is contradicted in Kris’s memoir. Talking of Jenner, she was a former Olympic athlete and movie star, whereas the Kardashians’ delivery father, Robert Kardashian, was a lawyer greatest recognized for representing O.J. Simpson.
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Gwyneth Paltrow equally mentioned she’s “utterly self-made” as a result of her mother and father — Emmy and Tony award-winning actor Blythe Danner and movie director Bruce Paltrow — did not give her cash as an grownup. “Individuals suppose, ‘She’s only a wealthy child.’ Till I used to be 18, I used to be. Then I used to be broke. I’ve by no means taken a dime off my mother and father.” When she dropped out of school to be an actor, she says her dad refused to “assist” her. “I used to be like, ‘Yeah, proper.’ And he was like, ‘No, I am not.’ So I obtained an house with a roommate; I labored as a hostess at a restaurant; I might scrounge quarters to purchase Starbucks — and stroll there to avoid wasting fuel. I keep in mind as soon as asking my dad for cash, like, ‘Please, I am actually caught. Are you able to assist?’ And he mentioned, ‘You are greater than welcome to return over for dinner.’ That was it.”
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Vanilla Ice initially claimed he’d had a tough, poor upbringing in Florida, which made headlines after journalists found he’d truly lived in a middle-class suburb of Dallas and drove a white IROC Camaro Z28. Whereas Ice ultimately admitted to some statements about his previous being false, he nonetheless doubled down on claims that he “grew up poor on the streets” and frolicked in predominately Black neighborhoods in Miami and Dallas. As for his automobile, he mentioned he purchased a flowery automobile from doing motocross however could not afford fuel.
Although he additionally admitted he “truly tried to detour folks,” saying, “I used to be embarrassed to inform folks I used to be from Farmers Department [an inner-ring suburb of Dallas]. I did not inform them I used to be from Miami. I did not inform them I used to be from anyplace. I used to be identical to, ‘Hear, I am from across the nook, man. I am from across the fucking manner.'” Total, although, he mentioned he misled folks to guard his privateness — which did not cease critics from parsing by means of his lies and questioning his avenue cred.
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When Daisy Ridley was requested about her privilege in an interview with the Guardian, she appeared confused after which in contrast her upbringing to that of Star Wars costar John Boyega. For reference, Boyega has mentioned he was a “poor lad from London, with mother and father who moved from Nigeria to the UK and lived on council estates” and that his household was too poor to afford toys. He additionally went to theater college on a hardship fund.
Ridley, in distinction, had a banker mom and photographer father and was additionally associated to well-known playwright Arnold Ridley and BBC’s former head of engineering John Harry Dunn Ridley. She grew up within the rich space of Maida Vale. Nonetheless, she mentioned, “John grew up on a council property in Peckham and I believe me and him are comparable sufficient…” She additionally mentioned, when the interviewer urged that she had privilege as a result of she went to a non-public college, “I went to a boarding college for performing arts, which was totally different.” She did attend the varsity with some form of scholarship and referred to as her residence in Maida Vale “the ricketiest residence on the road.”
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Drake has additionally framed his story as very rags-to-riches, notably in his track “Began from the Backside.” Critics have taken subject with this portrayal, contemplating Drake (then Aubrey Graham) started dwelling in Forest Hill (a wealthy neighborhood) in sixth grade and was solid in Degrassi at age 14. Drake later claimed, “All people thinks I went to some personal college and my household was wealthy. Perhaps it is my fault. Perhaps I have never talked sufficient about it, however I did not develop up blissful. I wasn’t in a contented residence. … We have been very poor, like broke.”
“The one cash I had coming in was off of Canadian TV, which is not that a lot cash whenever you break it down,” Drake mentioned. “A season of Canadian tv is below a trainer’s wage, I am going to inform you that a lot. It is undoubtedly not one thing to go fucking get.” He mentioned he lived along with his mom on the underside two flooring of a home, saying the house was “not massive, it was not luxurious. It was what we may afford.” Whereas it is true that Drake was solely making a reported $50,000 a yr from Degrassi, he was nonetheless a TV star showing at red-carpet occasions, which is not precisely the “backside.”
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Girl Gaga has painted herself as center class rising up a number of occasions, although she grew up on the notoriously rich Higher West Facet simply blocks from Lincoln Heart and went to the personal college Sacred Coronary heart. At college, Gaga mentioned a few of her classmates had excessive wealth, in contrast to her household: “All our cash went into training and the home.” Gaga labored at a diner and purchased a Gucci purse together with her first paycheck, saying, “I used to be so excited as a result of all the women at Sacred Coronary heart all the time had their fancy purses, and I all the time had no matter. My mother and pop weren’t shopping for me a $600 purse.” Her mother and father did, nonetheless, take out a mortgage to purchase her a child grand piano, and she or he took piano and voice classes whereas rising up.
Her father paid a part of her hire for her first house and supplied to pay her hire at NYU if music did not work out. He was very profitable, having invented GuestWi-Fi, and her mom was a VP at Verizon. Whereas it is clear Gaga was not as wealthy as her wildly rich classmates, not having mother and father who purchase you a $600 purse does not imply your loved ones does not have a lot cash.
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Lastly, Taylor Swift has by no means explicitly claimed to have grown up poor, however many assumed she got here from humble beginnings, particularly attributable to her claims that she grew up on a farm. In “I Guess You Suppose About Me,” she sings, “You grew up in a silver-spoon gated group, / glamorous, shiny, vivid Beverly Hills. / I used to be raised on a farm, no, it wasn’t a mansion / — simply livin’ room dancin’ and kitchen desk payments.”
Whereas Swift did develop up on a farm, it was 15 acres and run by her father as a passion. For his day job, he was a Merrill Lynch monetary adviser — and comes from an extended line of financial institution presidents. This was their residence. Additionally they had the cash to maneuver to Nashville in order that Taylor may pursue a profession in music.
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