The ‘good brains and gifted hands’ behind the infamous Prince Andrew Newsnight interview have reportedly become ‘things in the past’.
What Happened Between Emily Maitlis and Sam McAlister?
At the moment, there is a fall-out between journalist Emily Maitlis and ex Newsnight producer Sam McAlister who helped secure the interview – they are no longer friends/colleagues because Emily did not acknowledge the role Sam played in securing the interview with the prince.
The melee grew into something bigger when Emily [with salary of £325,000] snubbed Sam – [with salary of £30,000] at a party just before Christmas.
A source said: ‘At a celebrity party at Christmas, it was very award as both women were in the same room. The tension was palpable, The Sun confirms.
‘Sam approached Emily in front of quite a few people and suggested they bury the hatchet, and start afresh.
‘But Emily seemed reluctant to engage and essentially turned her back on Sam. Everyone was talking about it afterwards.’
Now They Have Things at Stake
The insider added both women have films based on the interview currently out on rival streamers and want their own to be a success.
The Netflix film Scoop is based on Sam’s book while Emily is the producer of A Very Royal Scandal starring Michael Sheen as the prince that will air on Amazon.
Who Did the BBC Interview With Prince Andrew?
Sam, who is portrayed by Billie Piper in Scoop, has previously accused presenter and interviewer Emily of failing to properly acknowledge her pivotal role in securing the infamous interview with the late Queen’s ‘favourite son’.
The dispute stemmed from an interview Emily and Newsnight’s former editor Esme Wren gave Radio Times in the July following the bombshell broadcast.
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The ex-BBC journalist, played by Gillian Anderson in Scoop, was criticised for giving an in-depth interview explaining how the scoop came about, but failing to mention McAlister, who convinced Prince Andrew to take part.
In the piece – headlined ‘How we did it, Newsnight’s Emily Maitlis and Esme Wren on the Prince Andrew interview that shocked the world’ – Ms Wren said: ‘We delivered a quite exceptional piece of journalism.’
