The REAL 'Devil' In The Devil Wears Prada 2 Is Painfully Obvious

It’s fair to say that 2006’s The Devil Wears Prada gives a rather rose-tinted view of journalism. In the film, there’s a lot of emphasis on the glitz and glamour surrounding the job, from high-fashion moments to exclusive events. 

While I’ve never worked in fashion journalism, I can say with confidence that, in the entertainment field at least, there is a level of elegance. Sure, you spend a lot of time at your desk, but if you end up getting an elusive staff job, you’ll likely have to spend time representing the publication and schmoozing at events. This part (and the free food) is admittedly cool. 

However, The Devil Wears Prada 2 brings us crashing down to Earth. It offers us a more realistic look at the industry and how it has developed in the past 20 years, and I’ll be honest — it’s not looking good. Spoilers ahead for the film!

How Journalism is Presented In The Devil Wears Prada 2

Right from the outset, it’s clear that Devil Wears Prada 2 is going for a different approach than its predecessor. It begins with Andy (Anne Hathaway) winning an award for the kind of hard-hitting journalism she yearned to do back in the first movie, but the mood soon sours when she and her entire workforce are laid off by text/email. 

This leads Andy to make an impassioned speech about the discouraging future of journalism, which, in fairness, is actually spot-on and probably something a lot of journalists out there needed to hear.

According to Press Gazette, over 3,000 journalists across the UK and the US were laid off in 2025. I see this every day across my social media feeds, with many of these writers and editors describing how they found out about their job loss in similar circumstances to Andy. In the past two years, I myself have lost two freelance gigs as a result of this climate, and I only found out one was happening after an editor at a sister publication contacted me. My boss, by that point, was already fired. 

While Andy ends up getting a job at Runway (albeit unrealistically) after her lay-off, it’s definitely a case of someone sticking a plaster on top of the problem. This is because the Runway we return to clearly has its own underlying issues, making it a far cry from the powerhouse it was in the first movie. 

The changes the publication has undergone are painfully familiar to anyone who has worked in a newsroom, including the death of print issues, the dreaded ‘pivot to digital,’ the central focus on social media, the budget cuts, and, most relatable of all, a preoccupation with page views. I half-expected Stanley Tucci to quip about Google’s core updates, but we were spared that, at least.

Who Is The Real ‘Devil’ In the Sequel?

While I personally disagree, Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep) is definitely framed as the ‘devil’ in the first film. Still, it seems like the state of the industry has humbled her a bit, too. Her edges are notably softer in Devil Wears Prada 2, as she seems to realise that even she isn’t untouchable.  

Emily (Emily Blunt) can also be considered an antagonist for the stunt she pulls in this sequel, but the closest we get to a physical villain is BJ Novak’s character Jay, the eventual chairman of Runway by succession. He’s essentially the representation of every out-of-touch leader/CEO of a publication who mentions the word that strikes fear into the heart of every journalist: “restructuring.” 

From then on, it feels like Runway is on borrowed time, with layoffs being an inevitability rather than a possibility. Even if things appear secure, it’s an unsettling feeling that is all too common among journalists. This links back to an earlier moment in the movie, where Andy herself says she’s reluctant to get a new apartment because she doesn’t know how long this new job will last. This subtle moment couldn’t sum up the industry’s situation better.

Of course, this being a movie means that Andy ultimately ‘saves’ the magazine, somehow defeating the nature of the industry itself. However, the filmmakers did their research for this sequel, with this particular ‘devil’ hitting a little too close to home. Because this ‘devil’ is so true to life, it might’ve been more powerful to stick to landing with a more realistic ending. But giving us journalists a little bit of optimism definitely has its benefits. After all, if Andy can save journalism, why can’t we?