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Nearly five years after the notorious 2019 BBC Newsnight<\/em> interview<\/a> in which Prince Andrew<\/strong> defended his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, the Windsor\u2019s biggest public misstep\u2014after which he was forced to \u201cstep back<\/a>\u201d from any public work as a senior royal\u2014is becoming a movie<\/a>.<\/p>\n Netflix has debuted the first trailer for Scoop,<\/em> a film starring Rufus Sewell<\/strong> as Prince Andrew (at one point Hugh Grant<\/strong> was reportedly on the list<\/a> for the role) and Gillian Anderson<\/strong> as interviewer Emily Maitlis<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong> The script, written by Your Honor<\/em>\u2019s Peter Moffat,<\/strong> is based on the book Scoops: Behind the Scenes of the BBC\u2019s Most Shocking Interviews<\/em> by former Newsnight<\/em> producer Sam McAlister,<\/strong> who is played by Billie Piper<\/strong> in the film. The Crown<\/em>\u2019s Philip Martin<\/strong> directs a cast that also features Romola Garai<\/strong> as BBC editor Esme Wren<\/strong> and Keeley Hawes<\/strong> as Andrew\u2019s private secretary, Amanda Thirsk.<\/strong><\/p>\n This content can also be viewed on the site it originates<\/a> from.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The bombshell sit-down, which was reportedly given the go-ahead<\/a> by Queen Elizabeth II, aired just months after Epstein\u2014the powerful financier who pleaded guilty to soliciting underage sex in 2008\u2014was found dead<\/a> in his jail cell while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide. Speaking to Maitlis, Andrew claimed that he had no recollection of ever meeting Virginia Roberts Giuffre,<\/strong> the woman who claimed<\/a> that Epstein forced her to have sex with Andrew, and denied all accusations against him. (Prince Andrew settled<\/a> with Giuffre out of court for a reported sum of 12 million pounds.)<\/p>\n There was an avalanche of fallout<\/a> in the weeks that followed. The<\/em> Times UK<\/em> reported<\/a> that Prince Andrew\u2019s PR adviser, Jason Stein,<\/strong> resigned two weeks before the interview because he had warned the prince against participating in it. A source close to the palace told The<\/em> Times<\/em> they believe that the interview will \u201cgo down as one of the single worst PR moves in recent history.\u201d Multiple charities<\/a> affiliated with the Duke of York distanced themselves, culminating in his official decision to step back from public duties as a royal.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was catastrophic,\u201d a friend of Andrew\u2019s told Vanity Fair<\/em>\u2019s Mark Seal<\/strong><\/a> in 2022. \u201cIt was a crescendo of horrors; it just got worse and worse and worse.\u201d<\/p>\n Scoop<\/em> hits Netflix on April 5.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nX content<\/h4>\n