Anne Hathaway showed support for the Condé Nast Union walk out by ending her Vanity Fair photo shoot before she got in front of the cameras, according to reports.
“They hadn’t even started taking photos yet,” a source told Variety on Tuesday, January 23, of Hathaway’s choice to leave her scheduled shoot. “Once Anne was made aware of what was going on, she just got up from hair and makeup and left.”
Hathaway, 41, was reportedly unaware that nearly 400 Condé Nast union members walked out of the company’s New York headquarters shortly before her arrival on Tuesday. Condé Nast owns multiple publications, including Vanity Fair, Vogue, GQ, Allure, Architectural Digest, Glamour, Self and Teen Vogue.
Once Hathaway and her team learned what was happening, she promptly left the building in solidarity, per the outlet.
“If Runway had a union The Devil Wears Prada would’ve been 30 seconds long,” the official union social media account wrote via X on Tuesday, referring to Hathaway’s fictional employer in the 2006 fashion film. “Thank you, Anne Hathaway, for not crossing our picket line.”
Hathaway famously portrayed Andy Sachs in The Devil Wears Prada, who is a fish out of water when she becomes one of Miranda Priestly’s (Meryl Streep) assistants. Anna Wintour, who is the current artistic director and global chief content officer at Condé Nast, was the loose inspiration for Streep’s cutthroat character.
Condé Nast employees hinted at their 24-hour walk out last week after the magazine conglomerate merged Pitchfork with men’s magazine GQ. The merger resulted in massive layoffs at Pitchfork, including the exit of editor-in-chief Puja Patel.
The shakeup came after Condé Nast CEO Rodger Lynch announced in November 2023 that the company planned to lay off more than 300 employees, which is roughly five percent of its staff. The cuts were part of the company’s attempt at “prioritizing cost reductions,” according to a staff memo via Variety.
The Condé Nast Union held a rally outside the New York offices in opposition of the staff cuts on Tuesday. “Layoffs are out of fashion,” one picket sign read, according to a video shared on X. “Say it loud, say it clear, winter’s extra cold this year,” the group can be heard chanting, seemingly a dig at Wintour, 74.
The union’s vice chair Ben Dewey told The Hollywood Reporter that they chose to walk out on Tuesday because it was when the 2024 Oscars nominees were announced. “We just really want to show how much Condé relies on union members to cover big events like the Oscar nominations,” he explained, asking that readers boycott Condé Nast publications until their message has been received.
Us Weekly has reached out to Hathaway’s rep for comment.
