How Sam McAlister Booked Prince Andrew's Interview Post Epstein Scandal

With her tactful skills and incomparable negotiation handlings, Sam McAlister has won awards, risen to fame, written a book and had a Netflix movie uncover how she fetched one of the biggest scoops of history. It is rare to see women get acknowledged and awarded for things done behind cameras and stages but for Sam McAlister it was very different but with its own set of troubles.

Deeper Look Inside Sam McAlister's Life

An alum of London School of Economics as a barrister Sam McAlister joined BBC network, a renowned media house channel as TV producer for the show 'Newsnight' which was hosted by the journalist Emily Maitlis. She rose to sudden fame when the show Newsnight aired the episode of Emily Maitlis interviewing Prince Andrew about his unusual friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender who died in 2019, the very same year when the interview was aired.

This was the most watched interview which later resulted in Prince Andrew's Royal title being stripped by the then Queen Elizabeth II. Recently Netflix launched a new movie titled 'Scoop' which portrays how Sam got the infamous scoop and the entire process of the BBC team preparing for the biggest interview.

Sam, shown as a single mother who was struggling to make a change and do something bigger and better in her work, was employed in BBC studios as a TV producer for the show Newsnight. This primarily meant that her job was to get in touch with the Public Relations department and Personal Secretary of top personalities in all spheres to get them to appear in BBC's show Newsnight. The show and its host Emily Maitlis were famous and synonymous with each other for its combined success due to her decisive, firm and straightforward personality who knew how to get answers out of people. 

Negotiating with the Prince

In 2019, Sam got connected with the Palace for covering an entirely different piece of Prince Andrew, an entrepreneurship programme hosted by him. Sam at the moment had discovered a ten year old photograph of Prince Andrew and Jefrrey Epstein walking in a park when she heard that Epstein had been arrested once again after being arrested once for 13 months in 2010.

She saw the opportunity and did not miss a single chance to take a shot. Soon when she and her team got together in a room with Prince Andrew, McAlister recalls the nervousness and tension in the room. She mentions how the Prince had brought his daughter Beatrice with him. When he asks them why he should talk to their company specifically about this issue out of anyone else, Sam tells him the truth. She convinces him by saying how people perceive him on social media and call him 'Andy Randy' due to sexual harassment  claims made on him and his ties with a convicted sex offender. She mentions that this interview is an opportunity for him to explain his perspective, use his voice and speak. 

Next thing we know, in 2019 in the Palace, Emily Mailtlis is sitting 6 feet apart from Prince Andrews and interviewing him. This interview made endless headlines and countless memes which exacerbated things for the Royal Family of Britain which eventually led them to strip Prince Andrew of his Royal title. This act made BBC regain its status of one of the foremost media houses and Emily Maitlis, one of the most terrific hosts. 

Sam McAlister soon left BBC and wrote an autobiography titled 'Scoops' which gives a detailed and fine narrative of fetching this particular scoop along with others across her career. She is a Visiting Senior Fellow in LSE and a keynote speaker at JLA Speaker Bureau. She has been Negotiation Advisor for the Palace and White House and inspired countless more journalists across the globe.