- Anna Wintour couldn't remember her former assistant, the writer behind "The Devil Wears Prada."
- A new biography by Amy Odell, published on Tuesday, claims Wintour wasn't offended by the book.
- Wintour reportedly told then-managing editor Laurie Jones: "I cannot remember who that girl is."
Anna Wintour didn't remember her former assistant who went on to write "The Devil Wears Prada," a book inspired by her time at Vogue magazine, a new biography says.
For her new book "Anna: The Biography," which was published on Tuesday, fashion journalist Amy Odell spoke to former managing editor Laurie Jones about "The Devil Wears Prada," a novel based on author Lauren Weisberger's time at Anna Wintour's Vogue.
The new biography notes that Weisberger, a recent Cornell graduate, was hired by Wintour and Jones as an assistant around Christmas of 1999, alongside a "girl of privilege" whose father was a diplomat.
"However, quickly there were worrying signs that Weisberger wasn't going to work out, the biggest being that she clearly wanted to be a writer," Odell writes, noting that the role typically leads to fashion rather than journalism jobs.
Jones — who was interviewed for the biography — told Odell that Weisberger was "a lovely girl," but "not a great writer, poor thing." She added that Weisberger left to work as an assistant at Departures magazine for former Vogue editor Richard David Story after she was unable to get writing assignments from Vogue.
According to Odell's book, Story urged Weisberger to seek creative writing lessons, which she soon took up and started writing about her time at Vogue. This caught the eye of her instructor who asked to show it to book agent Deborah Schneider.
According to Odell, Schneider was interested in the book long before it was a completed draft, even saying, "If she wants to sell this book, I can sell it this afternoon." Odell writes that the manuscript was sold to Doubleday for a reported $250,000. Upon learning about the book, Wintour remarked, "I cannot remember who that girl is," according to Jones.
The novel, published in February 2003, follows Andrea Sachs, a former student journalist seeking her first job in the industry. Sachs lands an assistant job at Runway magazine, carrying out difficult administrative tasks for Miranda Priestly, the publication's tough editor-in-chief.
In an interview with Weisberger that was published in August 2021, The Independent's Hannah Stephenson reported that the novel, which became an instant New York Times bestseller, had sold four million copies and was translated into 40 languages. Producer Wendy Finerman also optioned the novel for the 2006 movie of the same name starring Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway.
Despite the similarities, Odell writes that Weisberger insists "nothing was based on Anna." In a 2003 profile with media columnist David Carr, cited by Odell, Wintour herself dismissed the work as fiction, adding: "I haven't decided whether I'm going to read it or not."
Jones told Odell: "I know Anna read it and she was sort of bemused. She wasn't offended. She wasn't bothered by it at all."