US Vice President JD Vance calls Emily in Paris ‘the Shakespeare of our time’: Why it caught his attention

What if Emily in Paris is not just about designer clothes, Parisian cafés and an endless supply of romantic complications? According to US Vice President JD Vance, it’s so much more.

Vance has offered an unusually earnest “meta-analysis” of the Netflix series, arguing that beneath its glossy romantic-comedy surface lies a commentary on how millennials make decisions: particularly when it comes to love, marriage and family. And then he went one step further, calling the show “the Shakespeare of our time.”

The comments, made in a viral video, have predictably turned a familiar Netflix debate into something much bigger. So what exactly does Vance see in Emily in Paris, which stars Lily Collins, Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu, Ashley Park and Lucas Bravo in the lead?

What did JD Vance say about Emily in Paris?

Vance began by describing Emily in Paris as a “masterwork of American television” before explaining why he thinks the show is more substantial than it initially appears.

His argument is that the series is not simply about an American woman moving to Paris, navigating a glamorous job and getting caught up in romantic chaos. Instead, he sees Emily Cooper’s repeated relationship choices as a form of “cultural criticism” of his generation.

“The fact that they keep on making atrocious decisions,” Vance said of Emily and Gabriel, is what makes the show meaningful to him. And that leads to his biggest conclusion: “It is, at the risk of overstating it, the Shakespeare of our time.”

Why does JD Vance think Emily should marry Gabriel?

Vance is not exactly neutral when it comes to the show's central love triangle. He believes Emily, played by Lily Collins, and Gabriel, played by Lucas Bravo, are clearly supposed to end up together. His preferred ending is straightforward: the two should marry, have a family and build a life together, whether in Paris or the US.

For Vance, their inability to simply choose each other is the point. The increasingly complicated romantic decisions, he argues, become a kind of commentary on the choices made by millennials. In other words, he is treating the show's romantic indecision as the joke — and the social commentary.

What is Emily in Paris actually about?

At its simplest, the Netflix series follows Emily Cooper, an American marketing executive who moves to Paris for work and finds herself navigating a new professional and social world.

The show premiered in 2020 and quickly became known for its fashion, romance, picturesque Paris setting and deliberately heightened version of French life. Its reception has always been mixed, with critics and viewers debating everything from its portrayal of Paris to Emily's behaviour and relationships.

That makes Vance's interpretation interesting precisely because he is taking what is generally presented as escapist television and reading it as generational commentary.

Why is JD Vance's Emily in Paris comment going viral?

The surprise is partly the subject and partly the person discussing it.

Vance is the US vice president, so his enthusiastic review of a glossy Netflix romantic comedy was always likely to attract attention. His comments quickly prompted reactions online, ranging from people enjoying the unexpected television commentary to users mocking the comparison with Shakespeare.

The remarks generated both amusement and criticism, with some users questioning the Shakespeare comparison while others said Vance's argument about millennials choosing romantic chaos over commitment had a point.

The debate, therefore, is not really about whether Emily in Paris is “good” television. It is about whether Vance has identified something beneath the show's deliberately glossy surface — or simply given an elaborate explanation to a romantic comedy that never asked to be treated like Shakespeare.

Emily in Paris heads into its final season

Yes. Netflix has confirmed that the sixth season will be the show's final season, with its concluding chapter scheduled to premiere on December 24, 2026.

That timing makes Vance's intervention even more interesting. After years of Emily's romantic indecision, the question of whether she ultimately chooses Gabriel is now heading towards its final chapter.

For Vance, the answer is already obvious.

But whether Emily in Paris deserves to be read as a sharp critique of millennial relationships, or whether it is simply a very fashionable romantic comedy with an unusually complicated love triangle, remains a matter of interpretation.

And perhaps that is the most Shakespearean thing about it: everyone seems to have an opinion about how the story should end.