Emily Blunt has come under fire for her ‘out of touch’ career advice by telling people who aren’t happy in their careers to quit their jobs.
The Devil Wears Prada actress, 43, who played an overworked assistant to a fashion magazine’s editor in chief, was asked about advice for those ‘hating their jobs’.
However the tip that Emily, who is worth a reported $80million, offered has not gone down well with fans – who have highlighted she is speaking from a place of privilege.
Emily grew up in an upper-middle-class family and she attended prestigious private school, Hurtwood House, in Surrey known for drama and performing arts.
To attend the school famous for producing actors and creatives it currently costs £22,400 per term to board at the school and £14,900 per term for day students.
During an interview with Betches they touched on Emily’s role and a particular scene where she repeats to herself ‘I love my job, I love my job, I love my job’, while struggling with the taxing demands of her boss, Miranda Priestly.
Since the original film’s release it has become a viral meme used for overworked staff navigating the corporate world.
When asked if Emily had any advice for ‘women who are hating their jobs right now’, she initially said under her breath, ‘Quit… no.’
Before adding: ‘Just find something that you deeply want to do,’ she then said. ‘Even if you’re earning no money, as long as you love it, you’ll be happy.’
While it could be interpreted that Emily was encouraging people to leave a toxic workplace and follow their dreams, many did not appreciate her wise words.
Emily Blunt has come under fire for her ‘out of touch’ career advice by telling people who aren’t happy in their careers to quit their jobs
During an interview with Betches they touched on Emily’s role and a particular scene where she repeats to herself ‘I love my job, I love my job, I love my job’, while struggling with the taxing demands of her boss, Miranda Priestly
Some critics homed in on the fact that Emily is paid incredibly well to do a job that she loves, saying: ‘It’s soooo easy for wealthy people to say this lmao.’
‘It’s sooo easy to say this when you get paid millions to do what you love.’
‘Very rich-minded and classist thing to say Emily.’
‘That’s super easy for you to say when you’re very wealthy and money isn’t an issue for you personally.’
‘Excellent advice! The only flaw is that happiness doesn’t buy food or clothes, or pay the rent.’
‘How can you be happy when you’re poor and also have bills to pay? Not getting concerned over money in this economy is a privilege rich people have.’
‘Unfortunately my bills don’t accept happiness as a payment.’
‘I honestly think ‘do what you love even if it doesn’t pay!’ is awful career advice. Do what pays well that you don’t hate, then have hobbies and side gigs outside of work. Stop asking for every type of personal fulfilment from your 9-5.’
‘How can you be happy when you’re poor and also have bills to pay? Not getting concerned over money in this economy is a privilege rich people have.’
‘Me paying my rent with the love of my job.’
‘Some of us need to make money to survive.’
However, not everyone agreed that it was bad advice and some suggested that people were being overly sensitive.
One person said: ‘Emily getting backlash for this as she isn’t the original idgafter everybody’s so sensitive.’
Another defended her, saying: ‘I know some people are going to paint this as she’s privileged and not everyone has the ability to do so (which is true) but my job was making me miserable and unwell, hair falling out in chunks, skin breaking out, I cracked a tooth from clenching my jaw…
‘I quit and while I know it’s not smart, the job market is terrible and I have a kid to take of, I’m a better parent and friend without the stress of that job that I hated. My skin is literally glowing and I am eating and sleeping on a regular basis. Your mental well being really matters.’
Some critics homed in on the fact that Emily is paid incredibly well to do a job that she loves, saying: ‘It’s soooo easy for wealthy people to say this lmao’ and ‘It’s sooo easy to say this when you get paid millions to do what you love’
However, not everyone agreed that it was bad advice and some suggested that people were being overly sensitive
Emily and her family are no strangers to success.
Her husband, John Krasinski, is an American actor and filmmaker best known for his role Jim Halpert on the NBC sitcom The Office, where he was also a producer and occasional director.
He was paid a hefty $20,000 per episode until season four which saw his pay sky-rocket to $100,000 per episode.
Emily’s father, Oliver Blunt, is a ‘universally acclaimed’ London-based barrister who has been described as ‘a first class silk for heavyweight criminal trials, such as murder and drugs cases’.
One of the most high-profile cases he was involved with is the Millennium Dome robbers in which he defended some of the accused individuals.
Her mother, Joanna Mackie, was an actress who played roles in TV series such as Lillie and Grange Hill.
She gave up her acting career when Emily started private school and became a full time mother.
Emily became the sister-in-law of multi-award winning American actor Stanley Tucci when he married her sister, Felicity, in 2012 after they met at Emily and John Krasinski’s wedding.
Her uncle is former Tory MP Crispin Blunt who served as the MP for Reigate from 1997 until 2024.
He was the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Prisons and Youth Justice within the Ministry of Justice from 2010 to 2012 and chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee from 2015 until 2017.
Emily’s grandfather, and Crispin’s father, is the late Major-General Peter John Blunt who was a British Army officer and businessman.
He served for a total of 39 years between 1937 and 1979 and was awarded the George Medal for risking his own life to save one of his drivers.
The topic of workplace issues also came up on set of The Devil Wears Prada, as rumours suggested extras were ‘fired’ because they did not meet size inclusivity standards.
Anne Hathaway insisted that nobody lost their jobs after she raised the issue that the models were ‘alarmingly thin’ on the set of the film.
Anne, Emily, Meryl Streep, and Stanley Tucci have reprised their respective roles in director David Frankel’s much anticipated sequel to his 2006 satire about the inner workings of the fashion industry.
Meryl has since claimed her co-star Anne urged producers to be ‘size-inclusive’ in their hiring of background artists instead of relying on extremely thin women to play the film’s array of models.
Discussing the furore on Tuesday, Anne, 43, said the incident had been blown out of proportion and insisted the narrative currently unfolding across social media – that her comments resulted in some cast-members losing their jobs – is wide off the mark.
‘It was just this kind of quick thing that happened on set and now it’s become a much bigger story,’ she told Good Morning America.
‘I do want to mention there’s a little misinformation getting out there right now that people were fired because of the size inclusivity and that just didn’t happen.’
The new film goes on general release across the United States and United Kingdom from May 1, and Hathaway revealed the incident related to a specific scene that she’s forbidden from discussing.
She added: ‘Nobody lost their jobs, in fact, it created more jobs… it’s so hard because I can’t say what the scene is about, but there’s a song that Lady Gaga wrote and it’s a beautiful, amazing song.
‘Isn’t it better when you see so many different types of bodies up there with that?’
Streep previously said she was ‘struck’ by the appearance of the runway models on set, saying they looked ‘not only beautiful and young… but alarmingly thin,’ during an interview for Hathaway’s Harper’s Bazaar cover.
Anne Hathaway insisted that nobody lost their jobs after she raised the issue that the models were ‘alarmingly thin’ on the set of the film
Anne, Meryl Streep, and Stanley Tucci have reprised their respective roles in director David Frankel’s sequel to his 2006 satire about the inner workings of the fashion industry
‘Annie clocked it too,’ she added, revealing that Hathaway quickly stepped in behind the scenes.
According to Meryl, the actress ‘made a beeline’ to producers and secured assurances that models featured in the film’s fashion show ‘would not be so skeletal’.
‘She’s a stand-up girl,’ Meryl said, praising her co-star’s intervention.
Meryl also revealed filming for the sequel was far from smooth, with scenes frequently disrupted by swarms of excited fans and paparazzi.
Despite being aware of the original film’s legacy, the Oscar winner admitted she was unprepared for the scale of the reaction two decades on.
‘We needed police barriers and crowd control,’ she said, describing how buses full of fans descended on set during filming.
The chaos even spilled into production, with Meryl recalling how paparazzi ‘kept jumping in front of the camera’ and sparked a ‘kerfuffle’ with crew members.
‘Annie kept her cool, but I was unnerved,’ Meryl added.
