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‘In 2026?’: The Devil Wears Prada 2 called out for ‘racism’ after new film clip releases

One character's name sounds like a slur

Oreoluwa Adeyoola
23rd April 2026, 11:31
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The Devil Wears Prada 2 comes out next week, but it is already getting criticised for “racism” in its portrayal of an Asian character.

In the highly anticipated sequel to The Devil Wears Prada, Anne Hathaway returns as Andy, and this time, she has her own intern. The latest clip shows Andy meeting her new personal assistant, Jen Chao, but some people feel that the depiction of her character leans into archaic racist stereotypes.

“Hi, I’m Jen Chao, and I’m your new assistant,” Jen, played by Asian American actress Helen J. Shen, said.

“I was an intern this morning, but when a desk opens up, the interns get a chance to interview and guess what? Nobody wanted to work in your department because it’s not ‘actual’ fashion, so I just got it. Isn’t that cool?”

She continued: “If you don’t want me, you can interview somebody else, that’s totally fine. I did go to Yale, 3.86 GPA,  lead Soprano of the Whiffenpoofs, and my ACT score was 36 on the very first try.”

Under the comments of the clip, which now has five million views on X, many people have said Jen’s name sounds very similar to a highly offensive slur used against Asian people.

“Why the f*ck did she pick ‘Jen Chow’? Sounds exactly like ‘Ch*ng Ch*ng’ bro, real suspicious,” one person replied. “Or is she just auditioning for the next racist soundboard?”

Another person on X added: “Even without ch*ng ch*ng, her name reads exactly like ‘真丑/真臭’ (zhen chou), which means extremely ugly’ or ‘extremely stinky’.”

Others have pointed out Jen’s “awkward” personality and her need to boast about how smart she is by listing her accolades leans into the “model minority” stereotype Western depictions of Asian people are sometimes guilty of. None of the team involved in the creation of The Devil Wears Prada have responded to this backlash.

But some people think these allegations are a bit of a reach.

“I thought she was going to call her the C word or use an inappropriate voice…. but she just listed her accolades?” one person on X responded.

The full film finally releases next week, so hopefully the extra context will help avoid any racist stereotypes.

The Tab has reached out to Disney for comment.

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