Sophia Coppola’s ‘ultimate nepo baby’ daughter Romy, 17, launches her music career with Taylor Swift’s producer, a year after breaking the internet by trying to charter a helicopter with her dad’s credit card

She was dubbed the ‘ultimate nepo baby’ after sending the internet into meltdown by trying to charter a helicopter with her dad’s credit card – but accusations of riding on her famous family’s coattails are not holding back Sophia Coppola’s daughter.

The sixteen-year-old granddaughter of legendary director Francis Ford Coppola first made headlines last year after she revealed she was grounded for trying to charter a helicopter from New York to Maryland on her father’s credit card.

Her mother, who directed the cult-favourite film Lost in Translation, considered it comedic genius, but the public wasn’t so convinced and dubbed her the ‘ultimate nepo baby’.

Now, in true nepo baby fashion, she’s kickstarted her career in music with two singles produced by indie pop artist claud.mp3 and Mikey Hart who’s worked with Taylor Swift and Lana Del Rey.

The EP features two singles – a titular single, Stuck UP, and From a Distance – both in the bedroom pop genre that’s gained momentum with young fans.

Bedroom pop covers a range of musical styles, from hip-hop to Lo-fi beats, because it’s about how the music is made with affordable equipment rather than what it sounds like.

For Romy, her sound is ethereal with whimsical guitar strums, and she sings about romantic relationships that are no more – despite her being ‘stuck up’ on the person.

Born in 2006, Romy grew up in New York’s trendy West Village and spent summers in France, where her father was practising in his band.

At the same time, she became well acquainted with the world of film, having accompanied her mother on set, along with her younger sister, Cosima.

But when it came to promoting those same films on the red carpet, it was a strict no-go zone for the sisters.

In 2017, during an interview with The Guardian, Sofia revealed why, saying: ‘I never saw the point of taking little kids to movie premieres and stuff. I just want them to have a childhood.’

Perhaps it was a privilege she wanted to grant her children after having a different experience herself.

Sofia began her career in film and television as a child, having starred in the background of eight of her father’s films – including as the infant Michael Francis Rizzi in The Godfather.

Despite wanting her children to lead typical lives, it didn’t take long for Romy to become a campaign star for none other than Marc Jacobs.

At 13, Romy became the face of the designer’s ‘Heaven’ line – far edgier than his usual style and aimed at the younger generations, emphasising ’90s grunge.

The campaign saw the fresh-faced teenager clutch on to a pair of £230 teddy bears while gazing towards the camera with a blank expression.

It didn’t make much of a bang, but what came next did – her TikTok launch in 2023, which earned her the title of the ‘ultimate nepo baby’.

The 17-year-old uploaded a clip to TikTok to reveal that she had been grounded for trying to charter a helicopter from New York to Maryland on her father’s credit card, explaining that she would be spending her time stuck at home making a vodka pasta sauce.

However, her attempt to while away the hours of her grounding caused even more controversy when the teenager went on to admit that she doesn’t know the difference between garlic and onion – before she bizarrely introduced viewers to her ‘replacement parents’, claiming that her own are never home.

The video was quickly deleted but was already shared elsewhere.

She began: ‘I’m grounded because I tried to charter a helicopter from New York to Maryland on my dad’s credit card because I wanted to have dinner with my camp friend.

The teen then got ready to start cooking but quickly admitted: ‘I don’t know the difference between a garlic and an onion.

‘I just have to Google images of onions on my phone. I’m embarrassed.’

Romy continued: ‘Also, I thought I would do this since I’m already grounded because my parents’ biggest rule is that I’m not allowed to have any public social media accounts… because they don’t want me to be a nepotism kid, but TikTok is not going to make me famous, so it doesn’t really matter.’

She then held up one of her ingredients to the screen and says: ‘Wait, is this an onion? Because I feel like this doesn’t look like an onion.’

The camera then cut to show her babysitter’s boyfriend as he petted the family dog.

Romy said: ‘This is Ari… my parents are never home so these are my replacement parents.

Romy then asked Ari to go to the shop to buy ingredients for her before the clip came to an end.

Unsurprisingly, the clip quickly gained attraction, with viewers mocking Romy’s public rebellion.

But, according to Sofia, the video was, in reality, a show of her daughter’s comedic genius and filmmaking abilities.

Reflecting on her daughter’s video in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Sofia admitted that her child had known it was the ‘best way’ to anger her parents.

The Marie Antoinette filmmaker said: ‘We were raised to be so private and social media is so opposite of how I grew up. So, it was the best way for her to be rebellious.’

Sofia claimed her daughter’s TikTok revealed to her that the family talent of storytelling and filmmaking had manifested in the next generation.

She continued: ‘I got a lot of compliments on her filmmaking. And comedy. She’s funny. But people discussing my parenting publicly is not what I would’ve hoped for.’

For the rest of 2023, the public didn’t get much more out of Romy – presumably because she was under close surveillance.

The punishment didn’t seem to last too long though, and for her 16th birthday, none other than Jacob Elordi presented her with her cake.

The Australian actor, 26, is the object of most teenage girls’ desire, and it worked out perfectly for Romy since her mother was directing him in her new A24 film – Priscilla.

A picture of the pair also surfaced on socials, with Jacob slinging his arm around his boss’s daughter.

This year is different, since Romy not only launched her pop music career, but also made her debut at Cannes Film Festival.

Thanks to her grandfather’s latest, and particularly divisive, self-funded new film, Megalopolis, Romy took to the red carpet for the first time.

Francis Ford-Coppola been revered as a directorial heavyweight behind the legendary Godfather trilogy and a beacon of ’70s cinema.

But the latest offering from infamous Hollywood screenwriter, 85, was slammed as ‘bloated’, ‘boring’ and dubbed a ‘head-wrecking abomination’ by critics.

Megalopolis is centered on a superpowered architect (Adam Driver) who attempts to rebuild New York City into a modernist utopia. It also features the talents of an ensemble cast that includes the likes of Shia LeBouf, Giancarlo Esposito, Aubrey Plaza, and Laurence Fishburne.

Early screenings of the upcoming film have yielded mixed reviews from critics – and some have even given it a measly ranking of one star out of five.

The issues don’t stop there – crew members working with Coppola have also come out to accuse him of ‘wasting time’, smoking marijuana in his trailer and ‘pulling women to sit on his lap’.

Staff even claimed moments on the disasterous set left them asking: ‘Has this guy ever made a movie before?’

Regardless, Romy stood proud next her to grandfather and posed for photographs with him – as well the film’s featuring stars.

And yesterday, she further consolidated her position in the public eye with the release of her EP, Stuck Up.

The style is bedroom pop, think Clairo, with the title track recounting a fling that’s no more: ‘It was like a dream or a nightmare. But I couldn’t wake up. You said I’m too cold to feel fear. And now I’m stuck up.

To the disappointment of listeners, there’s no mention of her TikTok helicopter fiasco.

Either way, the ‘ultimate nepo baby’ is officially on the radar, and judging by the success of her family, there’s much more to come.