Is Reneé Rapp secretly a nepo baby?

It’s been a fantastic year for Reneé Rapp. Her debut album Snow Angel was a smash hit last summer, and this January she starred in the new Mean Girls movie (leading to an iconically chaotic press tour). But fans think they may have found the secret to her success: a hidden connection with a Broadway legend.

The speculation started with a post on X (formerly Twitter) reading, “Y’all need to stop acting like she’s not literally a nepo baby.” It featured two screenshots from Google: one being a search for Reneé Rapp, and one being a search for Broadway legend Anthony Rapp.

For the uninitiated, Anthony Rapp rose to theater fame for originating the role of Mark Cohen in the musical Rent on Broadway, which he also played in the 2005 film adaptation. He’s also starred on Broadway in You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown and If/Then.

Culture, unfiltered

Twice a week, our newsletter will bring you the pulse of queer culture, from the tastemakers to the groundbreakers.

Plenty of folks were thrown for a loop by the post, wondering why they’d never made the connection between Reneé and Anthony before. The most likely reason? Because it isn’t true.

NO PLS THE WRONG PEOPLE ARE GONNA BELIEVE THIS

— Circe 🩷🧚🏼🪄 (@hecatesbane) April 11, 2024

To be clear, the two Rapps aren’t actually related. Reneé’s parents aren’t even in the entertainment industry, while Anthony has two young sons with his partner Ken Ithiphol, who he’s been engaged to since 2019. They do, however, share a last name, so finding the other common threads between the two is a fun scavenger hunt for fans of both.

Related:

Reneé Rapp sets the record straight about her sexuality

Reneé Rapp has “had enough of you witches” and is setting the record straight about her sexuality.

Reneé Rapp just hard launched her relationship with this British singer

We can’t deny it. These two are serious couple goals and the internet can’t get enough.

For example, might Reneé “sing like the rent is due” because Anthony spent so long singing about rent himself? Did Reneé become a lesbian icon by following in Anthony’s footsteps, considering he was one of the first openly queer stars on Broadway? Perhaps she’s not his biological daughter, but some kind of spiritual reincarnation, filling the niche of a gay, blond musical theater star.

This makes sense because she always sings like the rent is due pic.twitter.com/p4KgBtNILx

— Marty (Taylor’s Version) (@MartyBoi91) April 11, 2024

He passed down homosexuality to her

— Scout ✂️ (@scoutisnothere) April 11, 2024

Reneé is like Korra and Anthony is like Aang in the sense that they exist in a cycle of LGBT theatre people who reincarnate every other generation or so

— EnigmAnic (@EfrainAguirre51) April 11, 2024

He just used mitosis to make a younger, gayer version.

— Steven C (@El0neatsboogers) April 11, 2024

Hold on I need them to play father and daughter in a movie

— 𝐸𝓇𝒾𝒸 💋 (@XOEricDaDiva) April 11, 2024

For her part, Rapp has said she’s a “daddy’s girl” — referring, of course, to her actual dad Charles Rapp. “I am a daddy’s girl through and through meaning that right hook is lethal,” she wrote on social media earlier this month. Good to know not to get on her bad side!