(Spoiler alert: This article contains mild spoilers for The Devil Wears Prada 2.)
The Devil Wears Prada was groundbreaking in many ways when it first hit theaters 20 years ago. It’s a sharp satire on the world of high fashion and its supreme leader, Vogue’s Anna Wintour. But the sequel has a different powerhouse in mind. Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez Bezos are a billionaire couple who have turned into dolls of the 1%.
The buzz has been spreading in New York this week after the world premiere of The Devil Wears Prada 2 took place at Lincoln Center on Monday. The filmmakers reserved their sharp commentary not for Winter or his staff, but for their prominent friends and mentors, the Bezoses.
Reviews are embargoed until next week, but Variety spoke to five people who saw the film Wednesday night in New York or London about the storyline involving Emily Blunt, the beloved disaffected character from the first film. Blunt’s character Emily, once an assistant to Streep’s Priestley’s social climb, has evolved into someone much like Sanchez Bezos.
Blunt’s Emily, who is addicted to designer brands and works in the home of Christian Dior, has become the ostentatious partner of a billionaire tech tycoon played by Justin Theroux, sources said. Theroux is said to be a combination of Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, and after acquiring extreme wealth, he undergoes a dramatic physical transformation (in flashbacks, the actor is seen wearing several layers of “thick” prosthetics). And now that he is healthy and socially accepted in Miranda’s circle, he spends lavishly on his beautiful partner and buys her anything she wants. Additionally, actor Lucy Liu has been cast to play Theroux’s first wife. He’s a do-gooder who moves around the world, working through an unexpected divorce (after Jeff’s first wife, Mackenzie Scott, who also inspired the Maya Rudolph Apple comedy Root).
In mid-April, The New York Times published a lengthy profile of children’s book author and pilot Sanchez Bezos, chronicling how the once-obsessed Jeff Bezos has changed in the euphoria of their relationship.
“He is now a gym-trained man, often shirtless, giggling in paparazzi photos, frolicking on a megayacht, and discovering joy, love, and cosmetic dermatology,” Amy Chozick wrote.
And Blunt’s character is bent on revenge. Once a long and struggling subordinate of Streep’s priest, his fortunes have now undergone a dramatic reversal. A subplot in “Prada 2” follows Brandt’s efforts to get his oligarch lover to buy Runway (the series’ fictional magazine and stand-in for Vogue).
This plot point directly references long-standing rumors that the Bezoses are intent on buying Vogue’s publishing company, Condé Nast (which also owns The New Yorker, GQ, Vanity Fair, and more). Vogue’s 2025 digital cover featuring Sanchez Bezos in a wedding dress was seen in some circles as a gesture from Wintour to her future new boss. In an interview with the Times, Sanchez Bezos dismissed the possibility of signing Condé, adding: “I hope so!” But that idea persists.
A spokesperson for Blunt told Variety that it is “absolutely not true” that her character is based on Sanchez Bezos. Representatives for Sanchez Bezos did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Disney has not commented on this matter.
In researching the Prada sequel, screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna reportedly interviewed former and current Condé employees. One source speculated that the portrait of the Bezoses may have been inspired by Condé’s journalists, who publicly feared that the billionaire owned Vogue and that Sanchez would be in control. (Mr. Bezos’ acquisition of the Washington Post in 2013 initially provided a boost, but recent years have seen massive layoffs and softened coverage of Mr. Trump’s second term in the White House.)
The satire surrounding couples in the script for “Prada 2” comes at a perhaps troubling time. The Bezoses are co-chairs of this year’s Met Gala, along with Wintour, Beyoncé, and Nicole Kidman. They will be standing next to the Winter Tour on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 4th, the annual fundraiser that will receive scores of A-listers and moguls. They also act as financial sponsors for the event.
Wintour herself has played a central role in the marketing campaign for The Devil Wears Prada 2. The project, based on Lauren Weisberger’s 2003 roman à clef, was once a thorn in Wintour’s side and threatened to derail her legacy. Streep’s beloved portrayal of the Ice Queen was less brutal than the film’s portrayal of a British dictator wearing designer glasses. Twenty years later, the film’s enduring popularity across generations has strengthened Winter’s image, and editors responded by embracing the new film in unexpected ways.
This month, Wintour appears on the cover of her own magazine alongside Streep, promoting the film with the headline “Seeing Double: When Miranda Met Anna.” She appeared on stage at the Oscar ceremony 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 without Winter.
Officials at the premiere’s afterparty speculated that Mr. Wintour was warning his famous friends about being ridiculed for the film, which all Mr. Conde expressed support for. Other attendees at the premiere included Condé CEO Roger Lynch and Vogue’s head of editorial content Chloe Malle, who made the decision to put Wintour and Streep on the cover of American Vogue. Another source said Winter had not screened the film until the New York premiere.
This year’s Met Gala, scheduled for the Monday after The Devil Wears Prada 2, is said to rely heavily on the film as a promotional tie-in. The cast members are also expected to attend, and there is a possibility that they will meet the woman Blunt will be parodying. It could also be an awkward moment for Blunt’s husband, John Krasinski. He was the star of four seasons of the “Jack Ryan” series, which will have an upcoming spin-off film released on Amazon Prime Video. Bezos will remain Amazon’s executive chairman.
Bezos’ presence at the Met Gala has already caused another source of tension. Last week, it was widely reported that a poster campaign appeared in New York City calling for a boycott of the Bezos Met Gala. The posters link to guerrilla activist groups and refer to the “exploitation of workers” at Amazon warehouses, as well as Amazon’s reported support of the Department of Homeland Security in a spate of deportations.
This isn’t the first time protesters have disrupted Bezos’ events. The June 2025 Venice wedding commemorated by Vogue magazine was met with an outcry from local residents who criticized the reported $55 million wedding for its excessive display of wealth and environmental damage to the Italian city. This kind of criticism of the famous couple’s wealth may not have been surprising. It’s even more unexpected that they would be ridiculed by a project so closely tied to Winter.
