One of the most talked-about moments in The Devil Wears Prada 2 turns out to have been made the old-fashioned way, and fans are celebrating the fact that a human artist was hired to create it rather than a generative AI tool.
The sequel opens with Miranda Priestly becoming the subject of an online pile-on, including a meme showing Meryl Streep’s iconic editor-in-chief as a fast-food worker, captioned “Would you like some lies with that?”
When the film was released on Friday, artist Alexis Franklin revealed on Instagram that she had painted the image herself, sharing a time-lapse of her process as proof.
“I got to paint this at the request of [director] David Frankel for The Devil Wears Prada 2 (it shows up in the movie),” Franklin wrote, adding that the commission felt tailor-made for her.
“Absolutely no disrespect to Queen Meryl, but this is something I would’ve painted in my free time, so when they asked me to do this, it was nothing but fun.”
She also posted on X, noting the reaction her reveal had sparked.
“I posted this on Instagram yesterday and got flooded with comments of relief that this gag in The Devil Wears Prada 2 was created by an actual human (me), so I figured I’d also post it here because I think these companies should get their flowers when they hire an artist.”
The response online was warm, if tinged with a certain sadness about the current state of things.
“People do crave real art and not AI slop, and this is proof,” wrote one fan.
Another noted that “the bar is truly in hell” when a production choosing a human artist over AI has become worthy of celebration in itself.
The Devil Wears Prada 2 opened to $77 million domestically and $156.6 million internationally in its opening weekend, for a global total of $233.6 million.
The film reunites Streep with Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci, alongside returning cast members Tracie Thoms and Tibor Feldman.
