Sticks and stones may break her bones but NYC billboard graffiti doesn’t hurt her.
“Emily in Paris” star Lily Collins and her husband, Charlie McDowell, ran into a vandalized ad for her hit Netflix show, which had Collins’ character red-eyed and clown-nosed.
The British-American actress and American movie director filmed their interactions with the defaced mural and posted the results on social media.
“I can’t say I love the new look, Em. But A for effort…” Collins captioned a two-part post in which McDowell runs away after seeing the tagged ad, and Collins poses in mock shock in front of it. The post has racked up more than 800,000 likes.
“One step closer to Emily in Berlin,” “Charlie’s Angels” actress Ella Balinska commented.
“She’s a class act everyone,” chimed in “Emily in Paris” co-star Ashley Park.
“Why would they do that? Jealousy that is, no need for it. I am a super fan. I love your show,” wrote one fitness trainer.
Meanwhile, this week, politicians have critiqued “Emily in Paris” much more intensely and directly than the vandal in regards to its promotion of cultural stereotypes.
“In ‘Emily in Paris,’ we have a caricature of a Ukrainian woman which is unacceptable,” said Ukraine’s minister of culture Oleksandr Tkachenko, deeming the show’s portrayal of his nation’s people “offensive” and inaccurate. “In the 1990s and 2000s, Ukrainian guys were portrayed mainly as gangsters,” he went on. “Over time this has changed. However, not in this case.”
He added, “Is this how Ukrainians will be seen abroad? Who steal, want to get everything for free, be afraid of deportation? This should not be so.”