likened

STRUTTING the red carpet at The Devil Wears Prada 2 premiere, dazzling Anne Hathaway was like a different woman.

Gone was the so-called “in-authentic” air that critics once claimed she exuded, leading to her being branded “Hollywood’s most hated woman”.

Instead, more than a decade after the trolling began, 43-year-old Anne appeared determined to shake off her difficult reputation once and for all.

Not so long ago, it could be argued she was best known for snapping at interviewers, snubbing fans and even, it is claimed, rubbing some co-stars up the wrong way.

A campaign known as “Hathahate” had kicked off in 2011, when Anne was panned for her Oscars hosting performance with James Franco.

Two years later, as she picked up awards for playing Fantine in the 2012 film adaptation of Les Miserables, her acceptance speeches were widely dubbed overly dramatic and insincere.

The hate spiralled from there. But Anne, who wore a sexy, cutaway Versace gown to The Devil Wears Prada 2 premiere, appeared to be launching a charm offensive as she flashed her Hollywood smile at the paparazzi in Leicester Square on Wednesday night.

Her shiny, orchestrated comeback was almost derailed this week when she was accused of “playing Muslim” by casually dropping “Inshallah” — the Arabic phrase for God Willing — into an interview.

The online hatemongers immediately went into overdrive.

In the viral interview with People magazine, Anne — who has been married to jewellery designer Adam Shulman since 2012 and has two sons with him — was asked about her plans for the future.

Without hesitation, she responded: “I want to have a long, healthy life. Inshallah, I hope so.”

While the phrase is widely used, Anne’s decision to say it has sparked debate.

One person questioned: “Is she playing Muslim now?”, while another moaned: “Anne Hathaway and her Inshallah clickbait make me not want to see Devil Wears Prada 2 and I had been looking forward to it.

“It’s not a religious thing. It’s the obvious clickbait as a marketing tactic. It’s insulting.”

As she signed autographs at the premiere in London this week, Anne was gifted a copy of the Qur’an, an Islamic religious text.

She replied: “Thank you so much. That’s very kind,” before moving on.

But insiders tell us that drama over her use of the word “Inshallah” is the last thing she would have wanted.

A source revealed: “Anne, like many people, uses that expression all the time and meant no offence.

“She has spent years stepping on eggshells and she just wants this press run to be smooth sailing without everyone hating her again.”

Anne’s every move has not always been so heavily scrutinised.

She has spent years stepping on eggshells and she just wants this press run to be smooth sailing without everyone hating her again

Source

Her breakthrough role as Mia Thermopolis in the 2001 Disney hit The Princess Diaries is still a fans’ favourite and later, she was revered by her peers following roles in the likes of Brokeback Mountain and The Devil Wears Prada.

But then the tide turned. In an interview with Vanity Fair in 2024, she revealed that she once Googled herself and the top article was titled, “Why does everyone hate Anne Hathaway?”.

She claimed the backlash affected her work, telling the magazine: “A lot of people wouldn’t give me roles because they were so concerned about how toxic my identity had become online.”

According to an LA-based source who has worked with Anne in the past, interactions with her can be tricky, and her mood depends on whether people are in or out of her favour.

They said: “The thing with Annie is, if she likes you, you’re golden.

“If she doesn’t, you’ll know about it fast. A lot of people complain about her attitude. She often comes across as frosty because she is so focused on work and she can’t stand time-wasters.

“After all, there are not many Hollywood actresses who take their work so seriously they would shave all their hair off just a couple of months before their wedding, like she did for Les Miserables.

“When Annie is in that mode, the advice is usually to steer well clear.”

Anne was born in Brooklyn, New York, to stage actress mum Kate and lawyer father Gerald.

She says she knew she wanted to be a star aged three after watching Kate play Eva Peron in Evita.

By eight, Anne was obsessed with becoming an actress, further inspired by her mother playing Fantine in a US tour of Les Miserables — a role Anne later portrayed on the big screen.

She has previously told how she got an agent at 11 and landed her first major TV role at 16 in comedy drama Get Real.

Anne had starred in a string of movies before her 2011 Oscars debacle, which followed a plan to team her with co-host James Franco in a bid to pull in younger viewers.

‘Needed a break’

It backfired spectacularly and their lack of chemistry was widely mocked, as was Anne for having eight outfit changes.

Afterwards, Anne admitted she was “slightly manic and hyper-cheerleadery on-screen”.

Meanwhile, Franco, who stepped away from the spotlight after settling a $2.2million class action sexual misconduct lawsuit in 2021, said: “I think the Tasmanian Devil would look stoned standing next to Anne Hathaway.”

From then on, Anne’s reputation for being difficult grew.

Much of the criticism was ridiculous and unfounded.

Comic book fans even moaned when she was cast as Catwoman in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises because they did not think she was sexy enough.

But other complaints seemed to hold more weight. In a 2012 interview, which resurfaced and went viral in 2024, journalist Kjersti Flaa called her “dismissive” for providing short, unenthusiastic answers during a Les Mis press day.

When asked, “Do you believe people loved more passionately back then?” and, “Do you remember your first crush?”, the star bluntly replied, “No”.

Anne followed up with an apology to Kjersti for being so curt, attributing her behaviour to personal circumstances.

The actress went on to win a slew of awards for her performance in Les Mis, including an Oscar, a Bafta and a Golden Globe. But her acceptance speeches were criticised for being too rehearsed or self-absorbed.

Following her Golden Globes victory, Anne said: “Thank you for this lovely blunt object that I will forevermore use as a weapon against self-doubt.”

Later, she was accused by many on Twitter of putting on “The Anne Show”. Amid the fierce backlash, she stepped away from the public eye, and said in 2014: “My impression is that people needed a break from me.”

Curt answers

By 2022 the actress was back, in movie Armageddon Time, but was yet again called out online over a video of her refusing to pose for photos with fans as she left a Valentino fashion show.

Other clips included a red carpet chat in which Anne was asked what Vogue editor Anna Wintour — the inspiration for The Devil Wears Prada’s fictional magazine editor Miranda Priestly — had said about the movie.

The actress first appeared frosty as she retorted, “Why would I tell you?”, before laughing raucously.

When the interviewer pressed, “Because I’m a fan and I need to know”, Anne said, “I know, but you weren’t there”, followed by another cackle — leading to claims she was trying to pass her curt answers off as banter.

The original Devil Wears Prada was an overnight success when it was released in 2006, and saw fans obsessed with Meryl Streep’s character Miranda Priestly — the editor of fictional magazine Runway.

The sequel centres on Miranda navigating the decline of traditional print media as she finds herself at odds with former assistant Emily Charlton, played by Emily Blunt, now a powerful executive at a luxury group controlling crucial advertising revenue.

I think the Tasmanian Devil would look stoned standing next to Anne Hathaway

James Franco

Andy Sachs, played by Anne, is a features editor who reunites with Miranda in an attempt to save Runway.

As the stars hit the red carpet on Wednesday night, Anne exuded a glow that bore no resemblance to her frosty past demeanour.

She smiled for fans and appeared gracious when stopping to chat to press on the red carpet — desperate to prove she was more darling than devil.

But as mixed reviews of the trailer for The Devil Wears Prada 2 flood in before the full movie even hits cinemas, has Anne done enough to silence the Hathahaters?

Maybe it’s better the devil you know

By Dulcie Pearce, The Sun’s film critic

IT’S been 20 years since they bitched, backstabbed and brought the house down in feisty fashion film The Devil Wears Prada.

During that time, the much-loved comedy has become a cultural reference, with the characters becoming household names.

But after two decades, has The Devil Wears Prada 2 lost its bite?

Well, one thing is for sure, the cast of Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci have clearly found the formula for time travel, as they all look younger than they did in 2006.

Taking to the very red carpet at the European premiere in Leicester Square on Wednesday night, the foursome eradicated wrinkles and turned up their smile wattage to ultra.

They also, clearly, had to get on board with the film’s “partners” Diet Coke, with three-time Oscar-winner Streep’s outfit – red, white and black with a metallic sheen – looking like it was inspired by a can of the sugar-free pop.

Those attending were all given their own DC to sip on, too, and I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that it’s the beverage of choice for characters throughout the film.

Audiences seeing early showings of the much-anticipated sequel also signed paperwork ensuring the film cannot be reviewed until a day and a half before it hits cinemas on Friday, May 1.

So no one is giving much away, with red carpet responses being, “It was so much fun” from Hathaway, and Streep saying: “This is a fun fashion movie. There’s a lot of music; there’s a lot of laughs.”

It hasn’t gone unnoticed that, as part of the excessive publicity campaign, Streep has joined forces with Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, who her character, Miranda Priestly, is based on.

The pair cosied up together on the cover of this month’s Vogue magazine, which is a huge contrast to the first film, which Wintour had nothing to do with.

So much so, designers and fashion figures were scared to be linked with the movie in case they offended her.

Streep recalls in the Vogue interview: “Everybody was afraid of Anna on the first one, so we couldn’t find any clothes.”

Fans fear the film has hung up its devil horns and slipped on some heavily branded wings.