Particle.news
Download on the App Store

Devil Wears Prada 2’ Meme Was Hand-Painted, Artist Confirms

The mix-up shows how AI has made people doubt even human-made work.

Overview

  • Illustrator Alexis Franklin shared a time-lapse proving she painted the brief Miranda Priestley fast-food meme that appears in the sequel at director David Frankel’s request.
  • She told NBC News the digital painting took a few days to finish and that she was fairly compensated for the commission.
  • Many moviegoers assumed the on-screen gag was AI-made, reading it as part of the film’s send-up of today’s internet media culture.
  • Franklin said she aimed for a cheap, plastic 2010s meme look, and features like blurry menu text led some viewers to mistake it for machine output.
  • Despite her process video and long public portfolio, some still claim the image was AI or faked, a sign of growing hypervigilance that can undermine credit and income for working artists.