[SPOILER ALERT: This article contains mild spoilers for “The Devil Wears Prada 2.”]
“The Devil Wears Prada” was groundbreaking in numerous ways when it first hit movie theaters 20 years ago – namely for its razor-sharp satire of the world of high fashion and its supreme leader, Vogue’s Anna Wintour. The sequel, however, has different power players on its mind: Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos, the billionaire couple who have transformed into effigies of the 1%.
That was the buzz out of New York this week, following Monday’s world premiere of “The Devil Wears Prada 2” at Lincoln Center. The filmmakers reserved their incisive commentary not for Wintour or her staff, but for their notable friends and benefactors The Bezoses.
Although reviews are embargoed until next week, Variety spoke to five people who have seen the film in New York or London, where it screened on Wednesday night, about a storyline involving Emily Blunt, the beloved malcontent of the first film. Once the social-climbing assistant to Streep’s Priestly, Blunt’s character, also named Emily, has evolved into a figure that now very much resembles Sánchez Bezos.
Drenched in designer labels and working at the house of Christian Dior, Blunt’s Emily has become the pretentious partner of a billionaire tech mogul played by Justin Theroux, sources said. Theroux is said to be a mashup of Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk – one who undergoes a dramatic body transformation (the actor is seen in flashbacks wearing layers of “fat” prosthetics) after coming into extreme wealth. And now that he’s fit and socially accepted in Miranda’s circle, he lavishly spends on his beautiful partner, buying her whatever she wants. Furthermore, actor Lucy Liu has been cast as Theroux’s first wife – a do-gooder who moves through the world solving problems with her divorce windfall (a nod to MacKenzie Scott, Jeff’s first wife, who also inspired the Maya Rudolph Apple comedy “Loot”).
In mid-April, the New York Times ran a lengthy profile of children’s book author and pilot Sánchez Bezos, chronicling how the once-nebbishy Jeff Bezos has changed in the euphoria of their relationship.
“Now, he is gym-hardened, frequently shirtless, captured mid-laugh in paparazzi photos, canoodling on his megayacht, a man who has discovered joy, love and cosmetic dermatology,” wrote Amy Chozick.
And Blunt’s character is out for revenge. Once a long-suffering underling to Streep’s Priestly, her fortunes have now dramatically reversed. A subplot in “Prada 2” follows Blunt’s efforts to get her oligarch lover to buy Runway – the franchise’s fictional magazine and stand-in for Vogue.
This plot point directly references a yearslong rumor that the Bezos couple were kicking the tires on acquiring Vogue’s publisher Condé Nast (which also owns The New Yorker, GQ and Vanity Fair, among others); a 2025 Vogue digital cover featuring Sánchez Bezos in her wedding gown was seen in some circles as a gesture from Wintour to a perspective new boss. In her Times interview, Sánchez Bezos denied the possibility of acquiring Condé, adding, “I wish!” But the idea has persisted.
A spokesperson for Blunt told Variety it was “absolutely not true” that her character was based on Sánchez Bezos. Reps for Sánchez Bezos did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Disney had no comment on the matter.
In researching the sequel to “Prada,” screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna’s process reportedly involved interviewing former and current Condé employees. One source speculated that the portraits of the Bezoses may have been inspired by Condé journalists openly dreading the prospect of the billionaires owning Vogue and having Sánchez calling the shots. (Bezos’ purchase of The Washington Post in 2013 was invigorating at the start, but recent years have seen extensive layoffs and softer coverage of Trump’s second term in the White House.)
The satire surrounding the couple in the “Prada 2” script comes at a potentially awkward time. The Bezoses are co-chairs for this year’s Met Gala, alongside Wintour, Beyoncé and Nicole Kidman. They will stand atop the Met’s stairs on May 4 beside Wintour, receiving scores of A-listers and moguls at the annual fundraiser. They also serve as financial sponsors of the event.
Wintour herself has been pivotal to the marketing campaign for “The Devil Wears Prada 2.” Based on the 2003 roman à clef by Lauren Weisberger, the project was once a thorn in Wintour’s side that threatened to derail her legacy. Streep’s beloved ice queen portrayal wasn’t as savage as the book, where the character was a British dictator in designer glasses. Two decades later, the movie’s staying power across generations has bolstered Wintour’s image, and the editor has responded in kind – embracing the new movie in unexpected ways.
This month, Wintour appears on the cover of her own magazine with Streep to hype the film, under the banner headline “Seeing Double: When Miranda Met Anna.” She appeared onstage at the Oscars with the film’s star Anne Hathaway. And at the New York premiere, franchise director Frankel gave opening remarks and said the film series would not have been possible with Wintour.
Sources at the premiere’s after-party speculated about whether Wintour had given her famous friends the heads-up that they were mocked in a movie that all of Conde had come up to support. Other attendees at the premiere included Condé CEO Roger Lynch and Chloe Malle, the head of editorial content at Vogue, who made the decision to put Wintour and Streep on the cover of American Vogue. Another insider said Wintour had not screened the film until the New York premiere.
This year’s Met Gala, which is scheduled for the Monday after “The Devil Wears Prada 2” opens, is said to lean heavily into the film as a promotional tie-in. The cast is expected to attend, meaning Blunt could come face-to-face with the woman she parodies. It may also provide an awkward moment for Blunt’s husband John Krasinski, star of four seasons of a “Jack Ryan” series and an upcoming spinoff film at Amazon Prime Video. Bezos remains executive chairman of Amazon.
The Bezos presence at the Met Gala is already causing other sources of tension. Last week saw wide reports about a poster campaign popping up around New York City, calling for a boycott of “The Bezos Met Gala.” Tied to a guerilla activist group, the posters have referenced “worker exploitation” at Amazon warehouses, as well as alluded to Amazon’s reported support of the Department of Homeland Security in waves of deportations.
This wouldn’t be the first time protesters have ruined a Bezos event. Their June Venice 2025 wedding, commemorated by Vogue, was hit with a protest from aggrieved locals – decrying the reported $55 million nuptials for an excessive display of wealth and environmental damages to the Italian city. That kind of rebuke to the famous couple’s wealth may have come as no surprise. Their being lampooned by a project so closely affiliated with Wintour is more unexpected.
