More than two decades after Lauren Weisberger released her novel, “The Devil Wears Prada,” the inspiration behind Miranda Priestley’s fashionable and acerbic senior assistant, Emily Charlton, has identified herself.
Celebrity stylist Leslie Fremar declared herself to be the the real “Emily” during the latest episode of Vogue’s “The Run-Through” podcast. It comes just ahead of the release of the “Devil Wears Prada 2,” sequel to the 2006 film based on Weisberger’s bestselling book.
“I know I am. I am Emily,” Fremar told Vogue boss Chloe Malle, the successor of Anna Wintour, who stepped down as the editor-in-chief of American Vogue in June 2025 after 37 years.
Fremar’s character is famously portrayed by Emily Blunt in the fashion film franchise while her boss, the Wintour-inspired Priestly, is played by Meryl Streep. Weisberger based her 2003 book on her experiences at Vogue and her time as Wintour’s junior assistant. Her character, plucky journalist Andie Sachs, is played by Anne Hathaway in the movie, with Stanley Tucci rounding out the star-studded cast.
Fremar said she was actually the one who hired Weisberger, adding that they worked closely together during the latter’s eight months at Vogue.
“I definitely told her a million girls would kill for the job,” she said, quoting a beloved line from the movie. “That was definitely my line because I actually really believed that, and I knew that she didn’t necessarily wanna be there.”
Fremar also revealed she’d already left Vogue when “The Devil Wears Prada” hit the bookshelves. She added that she only found out about it after she got a call from Wintour.
“I got a call from Anna’s office saying that she wanted to see me,” she recalled.
“I was petrified. [Wintour] said, ‘Who’s Lauren Weisberger? And I said, ‘She was your junior assistant,” Fremar continued. “And she’s like, ‘Well, she wrote a book about us, and you’re worse than me.’”
She added that the book “felt like a betrayal” when it was released and she and Weisberger “never talked again after she left.”
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Real ‘Emily’ from ‘Devil Wears Prada’ speaks out
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