Lola Young hits back at “nepo baby” and “industry plant” claims: “What kind of rubbish is that?”

3 hours ago 5

Lola Young has hit back at claims that she is a “nepo baby” and an “industry plant”.

Speaking in a new interview with Capital Buzz, the singer-songwriter and former NME Cover star set the record straight after it recently came to light that she is related to the author of The Gruffalo, Julia Donaldson.

She said: “People are saying I’m a nepo baby because my great aunt wrote The Gruffalo. I mean what kind of rubbish is that? I have so much to say on that which I can’t even talk about. But I’m not a nepo baby, I’m not an industry plant, there we go I said it. I’ve cleared that up for all those losers that want to comment rubbish on the internet. Just find something better to do, you’re sad, you’re lonely.”

Young continued: “The thing is industry plant is just a term for other artists and other people to use who just don’t know what they’re doing in life and feel upset that someone else is having their moment. And if you are an industry plant, you’re not going to have your moment for that long, unfortunately. And maybe sometimes you will, it just doesn’t matter, none of these things matter. If someone’s got talent, then they’ve got talent.”

She also defended the fact that she attended the famous BRIT School, which has produced a host of successful artists over the years including Adele.

“It’s a normal school and I went to a really like rough school before that and you have to audition to get in,” Young added.

The singer-songwriter was recently nominated in the Best Pop Act category at this year’s BRIT Awards. She also performed her viral hit ‘Messy’ at the 2025 ceremony earlier this month.

Discussing how ‘Messy’ became one of the biggest singles of the past 12 months, she told NME on the red carpet: “I think it’s the idea that you don’t have to be this thing that stereotypers want women to be,” she began. “It’s not even just that though, because everyone can feel like they’re not enough for somebody. ‘I want to be me, is that not allowed?’ – that’s a great lyric! I’m very proud of it and it feels like it’s resonating with people on a wider scale [than I expected].”

“I’m just taking it all in my stride and taking each day as it comes. I’m really proud of the song,” she added.

Young also opened up about her recent cover of The Cure’s iconic single ‘Close To Me’, which she shared last month as part of triple j’s Like A Version series.

Elsewhere, she also recently received four stars from NME for her performance at the O2 Forum Kentish Town earlier this month. The show was described as “momentous” featuring “messy anthems from a future superstar.”