Nepo babies are a dime a dozen at the Cannes Film Festival, but this week, one of them has really stood out from the pack. Her name is Pilaf Moore. Perhaps you’ve heard of her? The daughter of Demi Moore, whom The Cut once described as having “all the hallmarks of an ‘It’ girl,” has been stealing attention left and right as she accompanies her mother at press events for her spicy new film The Substance. The breathless exaltations have been rolling in from stunned onlookers and even Vogue, which praised the Moores as “the beauty stars of Cannes.”
At this point, Demi and Pilaf have clearly won Best in Show—which makes sense, given that Pilaf is not a human baby but a tiny chihuahua.
Not since Paris Hilton and the 2000s purse dog trend have we seen such a high-profile pooch. Pilaf has been making headlines since last year, and, given her immaculate performance at Cannes, her star only seems destined to climb higher and higher. This girl can do anything: rock a lobster costume, stage a casual hang with the girls, and even make an Elizabethan collar look cool. Apparently, Moore’s nickname for her is “Pilaf the Little Mouse,” which is just cute enough for me to stop wondering how much inbreeding it took to produce a dog that looks like this.
It appears that Pilaf joined the Moore family in 2022. Since then, she’s been by her mother’s side for all manner of press events, including Milan Fashion Week. This week, the teacup pup even got a shout out during Moore’s conversation with reporters about The Substance—a spectacularly bloody body horror from director Coralie Fargeat. In the film, Moore wears intense (and grotesque) make-up and prosthetics, rendering her almost unrecognizable. Even so, she told reporters, Pilaf saw right through it.
“It’s strange,” Moore said. “There were days I would—after six to eight hours of make-up, I could see my eyes and know it was me, but the best part is my little dog, which many people have seen, always recognized me. That’s all that counted. My touchstone of reality.”
Sources who are certainly real and not made-up for a bit tell The Daily Beast that Pilaf has mostly kept things tame during her time at Cannes, often eschewing the wild parties and glaring cameras for brief glimpses of culture. An insider said that she has had a wonderful time bonding with the fellow dogs of Cannes, including the newly minted Palm Dog Kodi from Dog on Trial. (Apparently, Hollywood networking is the same for dogs as it is for humans!)
“She’s used to the attention,” a totally authentic source close to Pilaf said. “She started making headlines in Vogue and People before most of us would have learned how to read. At this point, she’s mostly over the paparazzi and just wants to know where Cannes keeps its best dog biscuits.”
So, what’s next for this charismatic canine? In spite of her reported distaste for attention, I hear that certain parties might be interested in casting her for small roles in their upcoming films. Francis Ford Coppola is said to be circling her for a Megalopolis sequel, but one of my sources claims that Pilaf is concerned about its marketability. After working with Moore, Fargeat is also eager to cast Pilaf in her next gory horror, but alas, Pilaf is said to prefer romantic comedies. Besides, we hear she’s working on plans for her own dog beauty line of peachy lip glosses for dogs. Until that’s hammered out, her paws will likely be too full for any additional commitments. As much as she might like people to stop hounding her, it’s all in a day’s work for a nepo baby.
Check out our past Nepo Babies of the Week.
