The devil wears prada 2 It’s still a week or so away from general release in theaters around the world, but it has already sparked backlash in some Asian countries over a minor character who supposedly plays into racist stereotypes about Asians.
On April 16, 20th Century Studios’ main account tweeted a short clip from the highly anticipated sequel to the 2006 film. The devil wears Pradawhich features Anne Hathaway’s Andy Sachs interacting with her new assistant Jane Chow, played by Helen J. Chen.
In the clip, Jane explains to Andy how she became her assistant, and after misreading Andy’s hesitation and sensing that her boss might have wanted someone else, Jane fires her credentials. “If you don’t want me, you can interview someone else. That’s totally fine,” Jin says. “She went to Yale, 3.86 GPA, and is a soprano conductor [Yale singing group the Whiffenpoofs]My ACT score was 36 the first time.
Jane’s character also dresses in a way that is somewhat at odds with her high-fashion surroundings, wearing glasses and office clothes that look reasonable, compared to some of her colleagues.
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In a tweet that has been viewed 16 million times on X, one Japanese user tweeted, “The devil wears Pradathe promotion up to this point had been really great, but right before release, they suddenly hit us with blatant anti-Asian racism and flipped the car.
Reply to Prada 2 In the video, a South Asian-based X user simply tweeted: “It’s 2026… what made them think we’d find this kind of racism funny?”
“Everyone in East Asia is so angry, and the fact that some quotes from those in the West turn it into ‘very delicate snowflakes’ is the perfect finishing touch,” another Korean user tweeted.
“The way they paint Asians is a blatant and disgusting stereotype,” one Japanese user tweeted on X in a widely viewed post. “I lived in New York until recently, but these days it’s hard to find young Asian guys like this in New York. Everyone there works hard, looks clean and cool as hell. It kills my motivation to watch. I mean, this actress probably dresses more stylishly in her private life, right?”
In another Japanese tweet that has been viewed more than a million times on X, one user wrote:
“The devil wears prada 2,
・Asian (Chinese)
・Name is Chincheon
·glasses
・Nerdy bookworm
・Even if they graduated from a prestigious school, they’re not great
It hits us with the most blatant racist stereotypes in 2026 and it gives me chills. Did they use this scene in the promo because it’s “funny”? #BoycottTheDevilWearsPrada2″
Media in some Asian countries also reported on the violent reactions on social media and calls for a boycott. hong kong english registration paper, South China Morning Postpublished a widely shared article from their Beijing-based correspondent. Japan Sankei Shinbum And South Korea Chosun Daily newspaper, Korea Joong Daily and Korea Times She also reported backlash.
The fact that X now automatically translates tweets has resulted in some posts criticizing Jin Chao’s character reaching a much larger audience. Korean-American director Joseph Khan (Physically, Eek, Torque) also highlighted the controversy surrounding X. “There is an uproar with Japanese Twitter about this Asian character,” Khan tweeted. “They feel like it’s a caricature, which it is, but not about Asians but about Generation Z.”
But Khan responded to many criticisms. “[Jin’s] The costume is actually haute couture in a movie about fashion. Her glasses and hair clips belong to this moment. The disparity in body shape comes from Anne Hathaway who posited that there will be a “diversity in sizes” which can be seen as either true virtue signaling or an actress wanting to be the skinniest and tallest on screen. However, the Asian character is portrayed as a trendy, hard-working fashionista with neurodiversity typical of Generation Z. Geeks don’t exist in Generation Z because they’re all eccentric and they all dress like Nintendo cartoons. Anyway, Japan, welcome to America.”
