Emily Maitlis Takes Aim at Trump, U.K. Government and BBC in MacTaggart Lecture – But Stays Silent on Infamous Prince Andrew Interview

variety.com:

K.J. Yossman “Newsnight” anchor Emily Maitlis took aim at Donald Trump, the U.K. government and the BBC – her soon-to-be former employer – in a speech at the Edinburgh TV Festival on Wednesday evening.

But crucially she didn’t give any insight into her infamous interview with Prince Andrew, which she is now hoping to turn into a scripted drama. “I apologise to anyone who came thinking this would be about the Prince Andrew interview,” said Maitlis, who has reportedly signed a deal with Blueprint Pictures to make a screen adaptation of the interview. “That will have to wait till next time.” While many of the attendees to Maitlis’ MacTaggart lecture were hoping she would open up about the “car crash” interview, which saw Andrew banished from public life after it aired, Maitlis instead chose to focus on the journalistic landscape, giving examples of her own interviews with former Trump adviser Sebastian Gorka as well as actor Robert de Niro. “I have been extremely lucky to have had the chance to hold power to account,” she said in the opening to her speech. “Princes and prime ministers, presidents and policymakers.

But here’s the thing. It’s got – and is getting – harder. And tonight I want to explore that. Because my suspicion – no, be braver – my thesis is that the political actors have changed.

Politics has changed. But that we as journalists have not yet caught up.” She went on to say there is a “total disconnect” between the current cost of living crisis and the current Conservative leadership election, which will determine the next Prime Minister following Boris Johnson’s resignation, which she described as a “power vacuum circus.” Maitlis also took aim at the way in which public figures have increasingly tried to