Gracie Abrams found herself at the center of an unexpected online debate this week, not for her music or her views on nepotism, but for her haircut.
The 26-year-old singer, a close friend of Taylor Swift and daughter of director JJ Abrams, appeared on the New York Times’ Pop cast to discuss her experience as a so-called nepo baby.
However, several viewers found their attention drawn to her cropped pixie cut rather than her honest musings on privilege.
The comments to X were quick and creative. “Why does she always cut her hair like she’s an 1820’s orphan sold to a farm,” one user wrote.
Another got her boyfriend, the actor Paul Mescal, who will play Paul McCartney in an upcoming The Beatles biopic: “is her hair like that because Paul Mescal is doing his John Lennon cosplay for method acting purposes.”
One observer compared her appearance to “the first lady of North Korea”, while others expressed concern over the progress of the cuts.
“Gracie Abrams you are so talented please don’t go bald,” wrote one, as another predicted she would soon be “baldie abrams by the way she cuts her hair shorter and shorter.”
Not everyone was unfriendly.
Several fans rallied to her defense, with one calling the cut “the most endearing thing about her” and describing it as “adorbs”.
Another said “short hair looks SO good on her” and praised her for having the face to carry it off.
A third agreed: “Not many people have the face to look good, even with that haircut, if you’ve got it, show it off.”
Abrams, for his part, has been completely conscious of the transformation.
She told Vogue‘s The Run-Through podcast last month, where she has been “cutting my hair off and on and off” and “just loves low maintenance,” citing 1990s-era Winona Ryder, Gwyneth Paltrow and Chloë Sevigny as her inspirations.
The pop cast appearance also allowed Abrams to reflect thoughtfully on the privileges she grew up with as the daughter of JJ Abrams and television producer Katie McGrath.
“Certainly it’s been part of the conversation and I think about the privilege there,” she said.
“I had a safety net, and it allowed me the ability to experiment and concentrate, and I had the gift of time to dedicate to doing this thing I loved. I didn’t grow up financially afraid, and that’s the biggest deal.”
She noted that her father himself was the son of television producers, making him a nepo baby in his own right.
