Emily in Paris season three debuted on Netflix this week on December 21.
Discussing some of the storylines from the latest season, show creator and executive producer Darren Star addressed the Kyiv character backlash, which sparked controversy earlier this year.
In his latest interview with Deadline, Darren discussed the Ukrainian immigrant storyline in the second season of the show, which saw Petra, played by Daria Panchenko, meet lead character Emily (played by Lily Collins) in French class before they went shopping together and she stole an array of expensive items.
The episode sparked criticism when it was shown earlier this year, with Darren now saying, “Can I say one little thing about that? We cast this actress and just asked her, where are you from? She said Kyiv, so we made her Ukrainian.”
“It wasn’t written like, she has to be Ukrainian; it was written as anywhere, it could have been Romania, it could have been Russia,” he added.
Darren further said, “This show is an equal opportunity offender to all cultures that’s always meant to be lighthearted, never meant to cause harm or anything. So I think it was bad timing.”
“Next time we’ll be better,” promised the show creator.
Darren also touched on some of the criticism the show has faced for showing a “romanticized version of life in Paris.”
“I think we wanted to touch on the realities a little bit more, I feel like this season the show has become a little more grounded,” he explained.
“We’re looking at it from all perspectives, it’s not just all from Emily’s point of view this season, it’s from some of the other characters’ point of view,” he noted.