Jason Stein is Prince Andrews's former PR manager, who famously advised him against his disastrous Newsnight interview. Since Netflix's Scoop aired, viewers have been intrigued by the role of Jason Stein in the Newsnight debacle.
Scoop is the Netflix film that tells the story of Prince Andrew's infamous Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis in 2019. Since the new film was released, viewers have been left with numerous questions - was Prince Andrew really obsessed with stuffed toys? Does Emily Maitlis take her dog absolutely everywhere? And whatever happened to the Duke of York's PR manager, Jason Stein?
(If you want to catch up on the original interview, here's how you can watch Prince Andrew's 2019 Newsnight interview.)
Who is Jason Stein in Netflix's Scoop?
Jason Stein, played by Black Mirror actor Paul Popplewell in Scoop, was the Duke's PR manager in the events leading up to the Newsnight interview. According to reports from The Sun, he reported directly to Andrew's private secretary Amanda Thirsk, rather than Buckingham Palace's press office.
In Scoop, we see Jason battling with Amanda about how to improve the Duke of York's reputation. The pair argue over Amanda not setting 'red lines' for the Newsnight interview, before Jason tells her "I'm out" and quits.
Jason left the job after just one month, a source close to the PR manager revealed (via The Sun), commenting, ''He hadn't really got his feet under the table when he decided to leave and move on and he didn't even get paid, he wasn't there long enough.
It's not clear whether this is exactly how things played out in real life, but according to the source (via The Sun) it's true Jason was extremely opposed to the Newsnight interview and left his role with "mutual consent" after the Duke of York decided to go through with it.
The source continued, "He had voiced his concerns and had suggested other initiatives for the Duke to follow to try and get his standing back on track. He had suggested an interview in Britain and one in the States to mark his 60th birthday next year.
"He also put forward an idea for him to do more charity work and to get sports clubs to provide tickets for veterans playing on the fact the Duke of York is himself a veteran but instead they opted for the interview. It was quite clear the path they were taking and so Jason left after less than a month by mutual consent."
Where is Jason Stein now?
Jason Stein currently lives in London and works as a managing director at Finsbury Global, according to reporting by The Sun.
His LinkedIn profile describes him as an 'Experienced communications and government affairs professional who has worked in some of the busiest and high pressured news environments with a wide range of senior politicians, business leaders, athletes and high profile individuals.'
