The Mayor of Rome has a message for President Emmanuel Macron of France: “You really cannot intimidate or interfere with Netflix production plans for the next season of Emily in Paris. It is just not done,” Roberto Gualtieri tells The Hollywood Reporter Roma.
Gualtieri, a man who says he loves Paris and is great friends with Anne Hidalgo, the Mayor of Paris, was more than a trifle miffed on Wednesday morning when President Macron announced to Variety that he planned to “fight hard” to keep the popular Emily from migrating permanently from the City of Lights to The Eternal City.
Netflix has already made clear that Emily will be enjoying a Roman holiday of sorts in the fifth season, but the Gallic pride of Macron appears to have been mortally wounded.
Macron said on Wednesday that he and his wife love the series. Brigitte Macron, the First Lady, even made a cameo appearance in September in an episode of the show. In her cameo, Madame Macron is seen eating in the same restaurant in Paris as Emily. The two meet and then take a selfie together. Emily tells Brigitte Macron that she loves France, to which the First Lady replies: “And my country loves you, Emily.”
President Macron added that he was “super proud” of his wife, and he explained that the show itself is “super positive in terms of attractiveness for the country…a very good initiative.”
When asked how he plans to get Emily to return to Paris from Rome, Macron sounded Churchillian. “We will fight hard,” said the President of France. “We will ask them to remain in Paris! Emily in Paris in Rome doesn’t make sense.”
The Mayor of Rome was at first bewildered, and then ended up laughing about the Macron Doctrine regarding Emily Cooper’s destiny. He first addressed the dispute with a tweet: “Take it easy, Emmanuel Macron. Emily in Rome is perfect.”
Then he got on the phone with THR Roma and he told us what he really thinks.
“Doesn’t President Macron have more pressing matters to worry about?” wondered Mayor Gualtieri. “I would like to believe, at least I would like to hope, that Macron was joking, because he ought to know that a production company like Netflix does not take orders from heads of state or make decisions based on political pressure.”
Continued the Rome mayor: “There are perhaps a few more pressing issues for the French president. For example, there a couple of wars going on in Ukraine and in the Middle East, there is a horrible hurricane that hit America and which is linked to climate change, and a few other matters of state in Europe for Macron that are more important than Emily, I imagine.”
Gualtieri added that from Rome’s point of view the idea of having Emily in Italy makes a great deal of sense. “We see Emily’s move to Rome as a confirmation that our city is becoming more and more important, and we are quite relaxed about Netflix production decisions. They know what they are doing. To be honest, we think Mr Macron should just relax,” said the mayor.
Gualtieri said he spoke about Macron’s unusual declaration with Mayor Anne Hidalgo of Paris. “We talked, we chuckled about Macron,” he said. The Mayor of Paris, meanwhile, authorized THR Roma to report that she did indeed discuss the issue of Emily in Paris with Gualtieri. “We laughed together,” said the Paris mayor. “I love Rome, and we are both exclusive cities,” she added.
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