‘Emily in Paris’s portrayal of shoplifting Ukrainian is ‘insulting,' culture minister complains to Netflix

She instead hesitantly takes a seat next to an eager Ukrainian woman with heavy blue eye makeup, who introduces herself with a toothy grin as Petra from Kyiv. The two go shopping, and Petra (Daria Panchenko) pulls Emily out of the store while the pair are dressed in merchandise that hasn’t been paid for.

The portrayal of Petra as a shoplifting immigrant fearful of deportation was a “caricature of a Ukrainian woman,” Tkachenko said in a post on the Telegram platform, calling it “unacceptable” and “offensive.”

“Will Ukrainians be seen as such abroad?” he wrote. “That should not be the case.”

“Emily in Paris” leans heavily on cultural stereotypes, especially about French people, and its first season drew barbs from French critics. But the character Petra — whose name, Ukrainians pointed out on Twitter, is more common in other Eastern European countries — was perhaps the most demeaning caricature.

Representatives for Netflix did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Tkachenko’s criticism. It isn’t clear if the company had replied to the minister’s complaint.

Collins, who also produces the show, said in an interview with American Vogue that “diversity and inclusion were really important” for its second season. A representative for Collins did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

She also told Glamour that she was “really passionate” about including women and people of color and different sexual orientations in the show’s second season “to really show more of what the world is.”

“If there’s ever an opportunity to be better, do better,nd have more representation and inclusion, you should run with it,” Collins said.

While “Emily in Paris” received mixed reviews, its first season was Netflix’s most popular comedy series of 2020, the company said, with 58 million households watching it in the first month of its release. It was also nominated for a 2021 Emmy award for outstanding comedy series.

The second season was the platform’s No. 2 most popular show worldwide the week it debuted, according to Netflix.

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