We got some exciting reveals in the run up to The Devil Wears Prada 2 being released. One was the real Emily Charlton (played by Emily Blunt in the original film) unmasking herself after 20+ years! Her name is Leslie Fremar and she parlayed her time at Vogue into a great career as a stylist to the stars, including Charlize Theron. Next, a central plot point to the sequel was leaked (which I will repeat here so proceed knowing that spoilers lay ahead). The big twist was that Justin Theroux was playing Emily Blunt’s love interest and that his character was a take on Jeff Bezos, in turn casting Emily in the Lauren Sanchez role. Keep in mind, all this was written and filmed a year before it was announced that The Bezoses were “sponsoring” the Met Gala for $10-20 million. So, did the send up in the movie ruffle a few billionaire feathers? That’s what Radar Online says, claiming Jeff Bezos BANNED Justin Theroux from the Met Gala this year as punishment. Do we buy it?
Justin Theroux is the star who was allegedly banned from the Manhattan bash on May 4 after his character in The Devil Wears Prada 2, billionaire Benji Barnes, was widely believed to be based on Bezos.
“Justin’s character is Jeff, plain and simple,” a source dished to Hollywood insider Rob Shuter, who wrote about it on Substack.
“And Jeff has zero sense of humor when the joke is about him — or Lauren. He can laugh at almost anything else. But mock him, mock her, and you’re done.”
Theroux plays a divorced billionaire tycoon who undergoes a dramatic glow-up by shedding weight and becoming a far more polished, stylish power player after falling for Emily Blunt’s glamorous fashionista, Emily Charlton, a storyline some claim hit a nerve with Bezos.
The billionaire famously morphed from a skinny, socially awkward tech mogul into a buffed-up luxury-loving alpha male after getting together with curvaceous vixen Sanchez in 2019 and divorcing his wife of 25 years, Mackenzie Scott.
“Jeff did not find it funny,” a second source claimed. “Not the parody, not the performance, not the Lauren angle — noen of it. And once Jeff was offended, Justin was never getting through that door.”
In the film, there’s another tip to Bezos’ life: Benji’s ex-wife, played by Lucy Liu, dedicates her life to philanthropy post-divorce, just as Scott did with the $38.3 billion she got in the former couple’s divorce settlement.
Blunt’s character is also the “star” of the high-powered coupling of the fashion queen and billionaire, becoming a chief executive at Dior. It’s not far from how Sanchez has been desperate to reinvent herself as a patron of fashion and design.
There had even been reports in 2025 that Bezos was circling an attempt to purchase Vogue’s parent company, Condé Nast, as a wedding present to Sanchez. The rumors intensified after the former TV news reporter was given the digital cover of Vogue following the couple’s June 2025 nuptials.
In the film, Benji attempts to buy the fictional Runway magazine so Emily can run it.
Theroux has been a popular presence at the Met Gala, having attended four times. He walked the stylish steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2004, 2010, 2018, and 2019.
Yeah, I don’t think I’m sold on this one. According to Radar’s sources, Bezos can’t take a joke, but they say he’s even more upset when someone pokes fun at his wife. (Meaning the man must be livid 24/7.) Sooooooo, why ban only Justin Theroux and not Emily Blunt as well? Or everyone from the film for that matter? But here’s where I really think the idea falls apart like last year’s fillers: whatever money Anna Wintour deigns to accept for the gala, I don’t think she’d ever relinquish control of the guest list. At least, not while she’s living, and even after that I don’t doubt she’ll find a way. The most reasonable explanation for Justin’s absence is that he and wife Nicole Brydon Bloom just welcomed a baby! Nicole already showed up for the DWP2 NYC red carpet very very very recently post-partum; I bet/hope Justin was like, “fulfilled contractually required promo duties, we’re nesting at home now, peace.” Also, lol to Radar calling Justin a “popular presence” at the Met… and then naming the FOUR times he’s been over the last 22 years.
Lastly, while I love the idea of poking fun at the Bezoses in DWP2, something about comparing Emily Charlton to Lauren Sanchez has never sat right with me. In the first movie, Emily Charlton is a genuine fashionista with real style. Whereas Lauren Sanchez has the uncanny ability to make anything look cheap. I understand how it all ties together for the story they wanted to tell, but I think they did Emily’s character dirty. I said what I said!
Photos credit: John Nacion/startraksphoto.com, Jairo/Backgrid, Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/Avalon,
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