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Marie Osmond defends not giving kids inheritance money: It breeds 'laziness and entitlement'

Singer and actress Marie Osmond said she won't be giving her eight kids an inheritance because money without hard work breeds "laziness and entitlement."

Singer and actress Marie Osmond defended her decision to not leave her children an inheritance, saying that just "handing" money to people "breed[s ] laziness and entitlement."

The "Donny & Marie" star, 63, has eight children and 8 grandchildren. Osmond blasted the idea of inheritances, saying she pushes her kids to work hard to become successful on their own merits.

"Honestly, why would you enable your child to not try to be something? I don’t know anybody who becomes anything if they’re just handed money," she told US Weekly.

"To me, the greatest gift you can give your child is a passion to search out who they are inside and to work. I mean, I’ve done so many things from designing dolls [and much more]. I love trying [and] I wanna try everything," she told the outlet.

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Osmond said she plans to enjoy her wealth with husband Steve Craig and give the rest to charity after she eventually passes away.

Osmond said she felt that work ethic was lost when an inheritance was expected.

"And, I just think all [an inheritance] does is breed laziness and entitlement. I worked hard and I’m gonna spend it all and have fun with my husband," the singer, who at 14 years old, became the youngest female country artist to have a number one song.

Osmond admitted she does like to "spoil" her 8 grandchildren and she does help her children financially when they need it, like helping them purchase a car. 

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But she touted how hard work builds self-confidence.

"I love them to learn. You don’t love something if you don’t earn it. And so, even when they get their first car, you pay for half of it, get a job and learn that self-worth that [it] gives you," she argued.

Osmond made similar remarks in 2020 on "The Talk" when discussing how actor Kirk Douglas gave most of his $61 million dollars to charity instead of son and fellow actor Michael Douglas.

"I'm not leaving any money to my children. Congratulations, kids. My husband and I decided that you do a great disservice to your children to just hand them a fortune because you take away the one most important gift you can give your children, and that's the ability to work," she said at the time.

"You see it a lot in rich families where the kids don't know what to do so they get in trouble, so I just let them be proud of what they make and I'm going to give mine to my charity," she added.

Osmond said she did not want her family to be fighting over how an inheritance was divided up, either.

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Her comments come at a time when several "nepo babies" have pushed back against criticism that they've unfairly benefited from their famous parents.

Celebrities like Kate Hudson, Lily Rose-Depp and Gwyneth Paltrow have argued that their hard work is what's made them the most successful.

However, actress Allison Williams, daughter of former NBC journalist Brian Williams, admitted her famous father gave her an advantage getting into the industry.

"To not acknowledge that me getting started as an actress versus someone with zero connections isn’t the same — it’s ludicrous," she said.

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