Since its premiere last week, many viewers have described Netflix's Emily in Paris as a sort of salve for these complicated times. The show is so mindless, it allows you to turn off your brain and almost forget for a moment that we are in the midst of a global pandemic, economic crisis, and veritable political shitshow. But, of course, it's not being viewed in a vacuum. The American-in-Paris concept and luxury wardrobes don't change the fact that we are, in fact, living in the COVID-19 era, which is exactly why the show is getting heat from one very famous deep-dish pizzeria.
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In one episode of Emily in Paris, the characters compare Lou Malnati's deep dish pizza to "quiche made of cement." In case you're unfamiliar, Lou Malnati's pizza is a pretty iconic staple of the midwest. And after the restaurant chain heard about the shade, it responded. In a statement issued yesterday, Lou Malnati's acknowledged that under ordinary circumstances, "good-natured banter" about its pizza would be welcome, but given the state of things, the jab from the Emily in Paris writers felt uncalled for. "It feels especially unkind to disparage anyone during these difficult times, given that most restaurants are struggling to hang on," the statement noted.
Marc Malnati, the current owner of the pizzeria and son of Lou Malnati himself, added his own words to the restaurant's official statement. "We've been serving Chicago's favorite Deep Dish since 1971," he said. "When Netflix's Emily in Paris writers chose to take a shot at Chicagoans and our pizza to try to get a laugh, it felt heartless and not humorous in the midst of COVID-19."
The Lou Malnati's joke was, of course, written well before the global pandemic hit, as filming occurred back in 2019. Still, with restaurants being hit harder by COVID-19 than any other industry and 15,770 restaurants shuttering for good as of July 10, we understand why the joke stings.
It seems that Lou Malnati's is trying its best to turn the negative attention into a positive for business, however. At the end of its official statement, the restaurant shared a promo code for fans who want to enjoy its deep dish in the coming week. It also pulled an Emily Cooper and took to social media to post about the Emily in Paris shade.