-Welcome back to "Late Night," everybody.
Lately there has been an important conversation happening
surrounding the role of nepotism in the entertainment industry.
Well, this past week, Twitter discovered
that one of my writers is a nepo baby.
And I want to give him the opportunity
to address the controversy, so here he is -- Ben Warheit.
[ Cheers and applause ]
-Hi. Hi.
Uh, so, I want to address
what people have been saying about me.
First of all, I was never trying to hide who my parents are.
I fully acknowledge that my upbringing was
largely responsible for my career success.
My father is David Warheit.
And my mother is Christine Chastain Warheit.
-Wait. I'm sorry. How are your parents famous?
[ Laughter ] -Yeah.
So, my mom was the head librarian
at Christiana hospital in Delaware.
And my dad was a research scientist at DuPont
for 30 years. So, yes, in many respects,
I started on third base because of my famous parents.
[ Laughter ]
-Sorry. So, your dad was some kind of scientist?
-Uh, [Chuckles] yeah, well, he's one of the top 50 or 60
fiber toxicologists on the East Coast.
[ Laughter ]
I mean, he' no Rick von Susani, but he's up there.
[ Laughter ] He knows him.
-I... [ Laughter ]
I've never heard of him. -Alright, well, you know.
You know, that's the thing about nepotism, though, Seth.
It's not just about name recognition.
There's a lot of other, more subtle privileges
that come with having famous parents.
-Okay, so, what sort of privileges
did you get from them? -Okay, well, for example,
when I was growing up, sometimes my dad
would go to science conferences in Europe.
And when he came home, he would always bring me back
a Toblerone candy bar. [ Laughter ]
Now, you couldn't get one of those in Delaware.
[ Laughter ] Not in Wilmington, not then.
Now, is that fair to the other kids?
No, but it happened. [ Laughter ]
And I'd be lying if I said it didn't influence
how I got where I am today.
[ Laughter ]
-Okay, and your mom, she does what, again?
-She was the head librarian at Christiana Hospital.
-So she was a librarian? -Yeah, well, she was
the director of all libraries at Delaware's biggest hospital.
-Okay. [ Laughter ]
So, because she was so important to doctors,
you benefited from getting good medical care,
letters of recommendation, stuff like that?
-Yeah. No. Um... [ Laughter ]
But every time I went with her to work,
I got to eat for free in the hospital cafeteria,
and I could get any soup I wanted
and bring it back to the library and eat it.
Any soup they had.
Name, like, a soup. Any soup.
[ Laughter ]
-Now? You want me to name -- -Think of any soup.
-Split pea soup. -If they had it.
[ Laughter ]
You know? Any soup that they had.
-Mm-hmm. -So, yeah.
I realized that hearing this...
[ Laughter ]
...it might make it harder for people to root for me
and think of me as an Everyman.
But I just want to own up to it.
[ Laughter ]
-Ben, I don't think you're a nepo baby.
-I am. It's okay. -No.
[ Laughter ] I think you just want your name
associated with the nepo baby conversation
so you seem more important.
-[ Chuckles ] Well, that's kind, Seth.
You're really being kind, but I'm fully willing to accept,
you know, all responsibility for my privileged position.
-Ben, the nepo baby conversation is about people who benefited
from having famous people. And frankly,
I just don't think your parents are famous.
[ Laughter ]
-Really? -Yeah.
It just sounds like they're regular people.
-Regular people? Okay. [ Laughter ]
Just run-of-the-mill, ordinary, "nothing special about them"
kind of people?
-I mean, not to be rude, but yeah, sort of.
[ Laughter ] -Okay. Okay.
That's interesting. Maybe you would like
to tell them that to their faces?
-What?
-Oh, my parents are here at the show.
Hey, Mom and Dad. [ Cheers and applause ]
Yeah, hi.
Yeah, Seth -- Seth, wants to tell you
exactly what he thinks of you. -No, I -- No, I don't.
-No, no, go on, tell my parents you don't think they're special.
-Wait a minute! -Yeah, no, that they're --
how did you put it, "a dime a dozen"?
-I never said "a dime a dozen." -Sure, no, no.
You just implied they're a couple corn-fed simpletons
of poor breeding stock. -I would not say that!
-Yeah, okay, go ahead, Seth, tell my parents you think
they're as common as dog [Bleep] on the sidewalk.
-Is that what you think about us, Seth,
that we're as common as dog [Bleep] on the sidewalk?
[ Laughter ]
-I don't think that.
-Well, why don't you just let it out, Seth.
Tell my dad you think he's a bad scientist
that nobody cares about. -I'm not a bad scientist.
I know Rick von Susani. [ Laughter ]
-I don't -- [ Cheers and applause ]
I don't think you're a bad scientist.
-Well, no. You know what?
Then this is really messy, Seth, 'cause I'm having
a little bit of trouble understanding
what exactly it is you do think. -I think --
-No, no, no, yeah, just tell my parents.
Look them right in the face
and tell them what you think of them.
[ Laughter ]
-I think, they're famous. [ Laughter ]
-How famous?
-Really, really famous. -Wow. Wow.
Hmm, so you probably want their autograph.
-I do. [ Laughter ]
I do want their autograph. -Yeah, yeah, I figured.
You know...
[ Laughter and applause ]
These are, um -- These are gonna be 50 bucks each for you.
And you know why they're so expensive?
-Because they're very famous, very special people.
-And what are the children of very special, famous people
called? -Nepo babies.
[ Laughter ]
-What was that? -Nepo babies.
-A little louder for the people at home?
-Nepo babies!
-Okay, so that would make me... -A nepo baby.
-Okay, was that so hard? [ Laughter ]
-I think we're about out of time.
-Yeah, I'd say so. -Give a round of applause
to Ben Warheit and his very famous people --
famous parents, everybody. [ Cheers and applause ]
We'll be right back with more "Late Night.