Among the most awaited movies of the year, Scoop was released on Netflix on April 5, 2024, worldwide, and in a matter of just 24 hours, the movie became one of the top trending films of the week in multiple countries. Directed by Philip Martin, Scoop features actors like Billie Piper, Gillian Anderson, Keeley Hawes, Romola Garai, Rufus Sewell, and more in the leading roles. Due to its real-life concept that jolted the entire world and the impeccable acting of its starcast, Scoop is turning out to be the next big thing for Netflix. Scoop is a true story inspired by real-life events that led to the BBC Newsnight’s Emily Maitlis' interview with Prince Andrew in which he defended his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. Since you landed on this page, True Scoop News assumes you have already watched Scoop on Netflix and are wondering about Scoop Real Story and real-life Sam McAlister. Below is everything you need to know about Scoop's real Sam McAlister-
Who is Sam McAlister and what was her contribution to BBC's 2019 interview with Prince Andrew?
Sam McAlister is played by actress Billie Piper. It was Sam McAlister who took part in negotiations with Prince Andrew’s private secretary Amanda Thirsk to bring about the interview after first convincing her Newsnight colleagues it was a lead worth pursuing. Sam McAlister worked on Newsnight for 12 years until 2021, when she took voluntary redundancy, and went on to write a memoir named Scoops: Behind the Scenes of the BBC's Most Shocking Interviews., which was published in 2022.
Apart from convincing her channel and Prince Andrew for the interview, Sam McAlister also brought exclusive interviews with Stormy Daniels, Sean Spicer, Brigitte Höss, Steven Seagal, Mel Greig, and Julian Assange.
For those who still haven't understood, Sam McAlister is a barrister and former Newsnight producer and guest booker who played an instrumental role in making the infamous Prince Andrew interview happen.
Talking about where is Sam McAlister, reports suggest that she has become a writer and now also works as a professional speaker – and gave a TEDx Talk earlier this year. True Scoop News tried to dig further about where is Sam McAlister and found out that she is currently a Visiting Senior Fellow in Practice at the London School of Economics, where she teaches the art of negotiating.
Scoop's Producer Hilary Salmon was quoted saying "Sam is a force of nature. She’s larger than life – and neither of those two descriptions are clichés in Sam’s case. She's not the sort of person that you would expect to find in a BBC office, let alone on BBC Newsnight, this serious engine of news."
Prince Andrew in The Jeffery Epstein files
A few months back The Jeffery Epstein files were made public in the US and it mentioned Prince Andrew's name. A 950-page court document revealing the names of some of Jeffrey Epstein’s associates was made public. Jeffrey Epstein's court documents reveal that Prince Andrew allegedly had an "underage orgy" while staying on Epstein's private island. An unnamed Jane Doe was allegedly "forced" by convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein to "have sexual relations with this Prince" and to "give the Prince whatever he demanded".
Johanna Sjoberg in her deposition clearly says that when she visited New York along with Epstein, his girlfriend, and other female staff, she met Prince Andrew for the first time. For the unversed, in July 2019, Jeffery Epstein was arrested and after a few weeks he was found dead in his prison cell. His death was declared suicide.