When Prince Andrew, Queen Elizabeth II’s second son, agreed to be interviewed by the BBC in November 2019, he probably didn’t expect it would one day inspire a feature film. But “Scoop,” coming to Netflix on Friday, follows a musical on TV and a documentary in describing the 58-minute interview and its impact. (So does Amazon making an upcoming limited series.)
In the explosive conversation, Prince Andrew discussed his friendship with financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and denied allegations he had sex with a 17-year-old girl. Viewers were shocked by his comments, and British and international The news media described the appearance as a PR disaster. In the following days, Prince Andrew announced that he would withdraw from public life.
Although the interview was conducted by journalist Emily Maitlis, “Scoop” emphasizes the work of Sam McAlister, the producer who obtained it. The Netflix film is based on McAlister’s memoir, “Scoops: Behind the Scenes of the BBC’s Most Shocking Interviews,” which was published in 2022.
Here’s what else to know about the interview and its impact.
Why did the interview take place?
When Maitlis asked Prince Andrew on-camera about why this is the right time to “speak up” and give a rare public interview, he replied: “Because there is no good time to talk about Mr. Epstein and everything related.”
In November 2019, Prince Andrew was wide recognized as one of Epstein’s friends, to whom he was known went on vacation and shared a party. In a 2015 civil lawsuit, Virginia Roberts Giuffre accused Epstein of forcing her to have sex with Prince Andrew when she was 17. Buckingham Palace denied the accusation.
McAlister has been talking to Prince Andrew’s team about the prince appearing on “Newsnight,” an important BBC news program, for more than a year. In October 2018, Prince Andrew’s team suggested to McAlister that he could discuss his networking scheme for entrepreneurs, Pitch@Palace, on the show. He refused, then said that “a puff piece” is not the kind of story “Newsnight” will run.
According to McAllister, he met in May 2019 with Amanda Thirsk, Prince Andrew’s private secretary at the time, to discuss a larger interview. Thirsk had one condition: There could be no questions about Epstein.
But in August 2019, Epstein died by suicide in prison while awaiting a sex-trafficking trial, and McAlister and Thirsk began discussing Prince Andrew’s need to explain the friendship.
What is ‘Newsnight’?
“Newsnight” has been running on the BBC since 1980, and combines investigative reporting with studio discussions about news and current affairs.
Its best-known presenter is Jeremy Paxman, who hosted the show from 1989-2014, and is known for his interview style. Maitlis became the top presenter of the show in 2019.
In 2023, the BBC announced that Newsnight would lose its dedicated reporting team, and the show would become “a debate, discussion and interview programme”. On social media, Maitlis wrote: “Could Prince Andrew’s interview have happened on this iteration of ‘Newsnight?’ Of course not.”
Who are Sam McAlister and Emily Maitlis?
McAlister worked as a criminal attorney before spending 10 years as an interview producer and guest booker for “Newsnight.” He take a buyout from the BBC in 2021.
In his memoir, published the following year, he wrote that his strength was “getting reluctant people to do things.” He is an executive producer of “Scoop.”
Maitlis is a journalist and broadcaster who joined the BBC in 2001, and has become one of the corporation’s best-known faces — and also one of its highest paid, according to a BBC report. He left in 2022, and currently hosts a current affairs podcast “The News Agents.”
Maitlis is also an executive producer on the upcoming three-part series dramatizing Prince Andrew’s interview for Amazon Studios. Called “A Very Royal Scandal,” it stars Ruth Wilson as Maitlis, Michael Sheen as Prince Andrew and Joanna Scanlan as Thirsk.
Why is the interview so explosive?
Instead of distancing himself from Epstein in the interview, Prince Andrew said he didn’t regret their friendship because it led to “opportunities” that were “really very rewarding.”
In December 2010, after Epstein served time for soliciting a minor for prostitution, he was photographed in Central Park with Prince Andrew, who admitted to staying at Epstein’s Upper East Side mansion for several days because “it’s a convenient place to stay.” When Maitlis asked about the many underage girls who had been photographed leaving the house, Prince Andrew said: “As far as I know, they’re staff.”
Maitlis then brought a picture of Prince Andrew with his arm around the waist of Giuffre, the woman who had accused him. The prince replied, “It was me, but if it was my hand … I don’t remember anything being photographed.”
The alibis he gave when questioned about Giuffre’s claims were mocked through The press and spectators. She couldn’t have worked up a sweat dancing with Giuffre in a London nightclub as she claimed, she said, because that day, she took her daughter, Princess Beatrice, to a pizza restaurant. He also “didn’t break a sweat” because of a “peculiar medical condition,” he added.
What is fallout?
Days later, Prince Andrew became a national figure of joy in Britain, but there was also a serious side to the reaction. Lisa Blooma lawyer who represented five of Epstein’s victims, described Prince Andrew as “absolutely ruthless.”
Soon after, Prince Andrew announced that he was stepping back from his public duties as a member of the royal family.
In August 2021, Giuffre filed a lawsuit against Prince Andrew, accusing him of rape. In January 2022, unsealed court documents revealed that Epstein paid Giuffre a $500,000 settlement in 2009 that prevented him from making further claims against his associates, but not Prince Andrew.
The nobleman was then stripped of his military titles and the right to be addressed as “His Royal Highness.” In February 2022, the lawsuit was settled, with Prince Andrew paying Giuffre an undisclosed amount and agreeing to make a “substantial donation” to a charity “in support of victims’ rights.”
