The long-awaited sequel to 2006’s smash hit “The Devil Wears Prada” is getting some pushback, being accused of “blatant racism” for leaning into Asian stereotypes.
“The Devil Wears Prada 2,” starring Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep, is getting blasted over a brief moment in a trailer. The scene introduces Andy Sachs’ (Hathaway) new assistant, Jin Chao, played by Helen J. Shen, who some say is portrayed as a nerdy, socially awkward Ivy League grad.
In the trailer, Andy appears reserved upon meeting Jin, prompting the assistant to quickly rattle off her credentials.
“If you don’t want me, you can interview someone else. That’s totally fine,” Jin says. “I did go to Yale, 3.86 GPA, lead soprano of [Yale singing group] the Whiffenpoofs, and my ACT score was 36 on the very first time.”
Commenters also took issue with the way Jin donned a buttoned-up collared shirt and thick glasses, which they argue feel out of place for employees at a major fashion company.
Social media users from around the world, especially in Asian countries, expressed their frustration with the clip.
“The promotion up to this point was really great, but right before release, they suddenly hit us with blatant anti-Asian racism and flipped the car,” one user in Japan wrote in a post that’s been viewed more than 16 million times.
プラダを着た悪魔、ここまでのプロモーションめっちゃ良かったのに、公開直前に突然ド直球のアジア人差別を見せつけてきて横転 https://t.co/uNUYIzXl7U
— 黄色人種ちゃん (@dekaketu_purin) April 22, 2026
“We are in 2026… what made them think we’ll find this kind of racism funny,” another commenter said.
“Short stature, messy hair, childish clothing, big glasses, a ton of qualifications and high education and grades, servile and incompetent, a name that sounds just like ‘Ching Chang Chong,’” a third person echoed. “In this day and age, deliberately clipping out such a thick, over-the-top level of Asian stereotype that’s actually rare nowadays for ad use—did they judge that going full-on with the blatant discrimination would be more commercially appealing??”
As The Hollywood Reporter noted, a lot of the widespread criticism is the result of X posts being automatically translated, meaning comments from around the world are being circulated in the United States.
However, some, including Korean-American filmmaker Joseph Kahn, said the backlash reflects a cultural misunderstanding and claims that Jin is so weird she’s cool, at least to a Gen Z audience.
“There’s an uproar with Japanese Twitter about this Asian character. They feel she’s a caricature, which she is, but not about Asians but Gen Z. Her outfit is actually very couture in a film about fashion,” he wrote.
“Her glasses and hair clips are of the moment. The body shape disparity comes from Anne Hathaway who mandated there would be ‘diversity of sizes’ which could either be taken as genuine virtue signaling or an actress wanting to be the skinniest and tallest onscreen. Nevertheless, the Asian character is being depicted as a fashionable, striver in the fashion world with typical Gen Z neurodivergency.”
“Nerds don’t exist in Gen Z because they’re all awkward freaks and all dress like Nintendo cartoons,” he concluded. “Anyway Japan, welcome to America.”
Comments are closed.