J.D. Vance drops unhinged TV review, compares ‘Emily In Paris’ to Shakespeare

J.D. Vance has a new side hustle:  TV critic.

The vice president blindsided TikTok Monday with his unexpected and passionate hot-takes on the famously divisive Netflix series Emily In Paris, calling it “the Shakespeare of our time.”

Yes, really.

“I just had a buddy of mine criticize the masterwork of American television called Emily in Paris,” Vance told his 3.4 million followers. “So let me give you my meta-analysis of Emily in Paris and why it is genius.”

His central thesis? Emily and French chef Gabriel — the show’s long-running, endlessly tangled will-they-or-won’t-they pair — should obviously settle down, start a family and quit making a mess of things.

Instead, Vance said, both spend their time choosing jobs, random romances and a parade of seemingly ridiculous decisions over what is right in front of them.

“She should marry this guy,” Vance pleaded.  “They should start a family, whether in Paris or America. They should build a life together.”

The chef, he added, should also pick Emily — “not the various craziest people that pop in and out of his life.”

For Vance, the show’s increasingly complicated love life is not shallow television escapism. It is apparently a sweeping statement on the existential failures of millennials.

“The fact that they keep on making atrocious decisions is kind of like the best bit of cultural commentary — I would say cultural criticism — of my generation, the millennials,” he said.

Then came the closer that launched a thousand double-takes.

“You gotta watch Emily in Paris. It is, at the risk of overstating it, the Shakespeare of our time.”

And TikTok commenters ate it up.  By 1 p.m. Monday, the clip had pulled in 6,083 likes — and an avalanche of viewers begging him to turn the whole thing into a recurring series.

“OK, now I need his take on The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,” one viewer wrote.

“VP JD VANCE REVIEWS I LOVE IT,” said another.

“We need more of these. And with reality shows!!!” another commenter demanded.

One person claimed Vance’s endorsement had finally done the impossible: “I convinced my husband to watch Emily in Paris because it was JD Vance approved.”

Emily in Paris has long been a lightning rod for critics, who have questioned its fantasy version of the French city, its reliance on clichés and its delightfully absurd romantic detours.

Slate memorably branded the show a “hate watch” — the kind of series viewers know is flawed but somehow cannot stop consuming. Rotten Tomatoes’ critics consensus for the first season likewise called its depiction of Paris “très cliché.”

Which may be exactly why Vance’s unexpected analysis lands: he did not just defend Emily in Paris. He gave it the full English-lit treatment, turning Emily and Gabriel’s messy romantic ping-pong into a warning about careerism, commitment and millennial chaos.

Somewhere, Shakespeare is either rolling over in his grave — or asking when the Veep to please review Bridgerton.

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