Mel B's daughter Phoenix reveals why she's made a documentary exposing all the injustices of fame
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Like any fully fledged ‘nepo baby’ – the term used for celebrity children who’ve been given a leg up on the career ladder by virtue of their famous parents – when Phoenix Brown decided to make a documentary about the phenomenon she was given her own show by Channel 4, a 45-minute documentary called Born In The Limelight: Nepo Babies.
![[Phoenix (pictured), 25, the daughter of Spice Girl Mel B and dancer Jimmy Gulzar, has a humility about her as she explores this rarefied world]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/07/16/93832279-14258955-image-a-28_1736266290787.jpg)
Thankfully Phoenix, 25, the daughter of Spice Girl Mel B and dancer Jimmy Gulzar, has a humility about her as she explores this rarefied world. Not only do we see how lucky she’s been, but also the dark side of growing up in the limelight. ‘Having a famous parent has definitely opened doors for me, I don’t think I’d be making this documentary without it,’ she says. ‘But with that privilege comes a lot of scrutiny.’.
![[Phoenix would be the first to admit she had a very different upbringing from her working-class mother]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/07/16/93829257-14258955-image-a-29_1736266312176.jpg)
Of course, nepotism has always been around, but there are few places where it’s more visible than in arts and entertainment, even more so today when anyone can become a celebrity regardless of talent. To test exactly what sort of advantages nepo babies get, Phoenix embarks on an experiment where she pretends to become an artist.
![[Of course, nepotism has always been around, but there are few places where it’s more visible than in arts and entertainment, even more so today when anyone can become a celebrity regardless of talent. Mel B and her daughter in a campaign together]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/07/16/93829243-14258955-image-a-30_1736266334517.jpg)
Brooklyn Beckham, son of David and Spice Girl Victoria, had a brief career as a photographer (including a much-derided book of photos), Madonna and Guy Ritchie’s son Rocco’s art has featured in his father’s films and Bear Grylls’s son Jesse is making a living as an artist.
![[Phoenix has a transatlantic twang having lived half her life in a mansion in LA, and she has her mum’s celebrity friends on speed dial. Pictured as a child with her famous mother Mel B in London]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/07/15/93829247-14258955-image-a-5_1736262611614.jpg)
Phoenix, who admits she has no artistic talent, prepares for her first exhibition to see how far her inherited fame will take her. She spends a few hours creating extremely adolescent pieces before an art valuer comes and announces her paintings are ‘fantastic’ and that she should charge up to £2,000 for the bigger ones.
![[To test exactly what sort of advantages nepo babies get, Phoenix embarks on an experiment where she pretends to become an artist]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/07/15/93829263-14258955-image-a-7_1736262621107.jpg)
