A catastrophic 2019 interview between Prince Andrew and BBC journalist Emily Maitlis has been resurrected in a new Netflix film called “Scoop.”

The film rehashes the Prince’s alleged sexual encounter with a 17-year-old girl trafficked by his friend Jeffrey Epstein and tells the behind-the-scenes story of how and why this infamous interview happened in the first place. 

LA Times contributor Emily Zemler wrote about the new film and joined Lisa McRee on “LA Times Today” from London. 

Zemler explained how Prince Andrew and Epstein, who was once convicted of sex crimes, were involved. 

“They were two rich, entitled men who were pals. Prince Andrew had been photographed at various times with Jeffrey Epstein. There were a lot of situations that he’d been in. Once it became clear that Jeffrey Epstein had done all of these things, and there were accusations against him that Prince Andrew might have been implicated in them. When Epstein was finally arrested, there was some pressure on Prince Andrew to speak about it or to put out a statement,” Zemler said.

Prince Andrew eventually appeared on BBC “Newsnight” to attempt to explain his side of the story. 

“Virginia Giuffre had accused Prince Andrew of having sex with her when she was 17, which was an accusation that was pretty serious that he needed to try to counter. It was, I think, important to the Palace that he did have an opportunity to speak out because that was such an extreme accusation,” Zemler said. “It was an opportunity for him to go on TV and to say ‘Jeffrey Epstein and I were friends, but I’m not part of this.’”

“Scoop” focuses on the anchor, Emily Maitlis and “Newsnight” booker Sam McAlister. 

The film recreates the interview and dramatizes Prince Andrew’s real reaction to the conversation. 

“The actors studied what the real people did, and you see him at the end really pleased with himself. And the Palace had been recording the interview while it was happening and wouldn’t have allowed it to have been released had it been problematic, but clearly, no one found it problematic. And what’s so interesting to me is that as it’s happening on screen, you can see clear cracks in the foundation, and he doesn’t realize that,” Zemler said. 

In 2022, Queen Elizabeth II stripped Prince Andrew of his royal and military titles in what Zemler called a “pretty extraordinary act” for the royals.  

“They tend to be very stoic about things and not have much of a reaction, especially the Queen. Her whole stance was to never have a real reaction, and this was too big. The fallout was too massive,” Zemler said. 

Watch the full interview above.

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