Andy Coulson: What Happened After the Phone-Hacking Scandal

When you’ve been both a tabloid editor and a Downing Street communications director, the label of “phone‑hacker” tends to stick. Andy Coulson has spent the decade after his prison sentence trying to rewrite that narrative—this time as a crisis management consultant and podcast host.

Born: 1968 · Editor of News of the World: 2003–2007 · Convicted of phone‑hacking: 2014 · Current occupation: Crisis communication consultant

Six biographical points, one pattern: Coulson’s career arc spans journalism, government, prison, and entrepreneurial recovery.

What has happened to Andy Coulson?

The rise and fall of Andy Coulson is one of the most dramatic in modern British media. From editing the country’s best‑selling Sunday newspaper to serving time in Belmarsh, his trajectory has been anything but linear.

What did Andy Coulson do as editor of the News of the World?

• Became editor in 2003, aged 35, succeeding Rebekah Brooks (Wikipedia (encyclopedic reference))
• Oversaw a tabloid known for aggressive celebrity and royal coverage
• Resigned in January 2007 after the paper’s royal editor, Clive Goodman, was convicted of phone‑hacking (BBC News (UK public broadcaster))

Coulson maintained he had no knowledge of the hacking, a claim he repeated for years. The resignation, however, was just the beginning: by 2010 he was David Cameron’s Director of Communications, a role that placed him at the heart of the coalition government.

The pattern: each promotion carried a growing reputational debt that would eventually come due.

What was Coulson trying to say before he died?

This phrase appears in search queries but is misleading—Coulson is alive as of 2025. The source of the confusion is unclear; it may refer to a misinterpretation of “before he resigned” or a different public figure. No credible source suggests Coulson’s death.

Why this matters: the query reflects how deeply Coulson’s name is still linked to scandal and closure, even a decade after his release from prison.

What does Andy Coulson do now?

After his release from prison in October 2014, Coulson did not retreat from public life. Instead, he leveraged his expertise in reputation management to build a new career.

What is the Crisis What Crisis? podcast?

• Hosted by Andy Coulson, described as “authentic, judgement‑free, useful storytelling from crisis survivors and experts” (Global Player (podcast platform))
• Features 100+ conversations with people who have faced severe crises (Crisis What Crisis? (official podcast website))
• Released biweekly; the show’s Instagram claims it is in the top 1% of global podcasts (Instagram (social media platform))

Coulson’s podcasting provides a platform for others’ stories, but it also subtly reframes his own narrative—from perpetrator of a communications breakdown to expert in crisis recovery.

Where does Andy Coulson work now?

• Founded Coulson Partners, a crisis management and reputation firm (Influence Online (communications industry publication))
• Works as a keynote speaker on communications and crisis resilience
• In a 2025 interview, Coulson said he enjoys crisis comms because he “lived it” (Influence Online)

The trade‑off: Coulson’s authority in crisis management is inseparable from the scandal that made him infamous. Clients hire him knowing his past is both credential and caveat.

Who is Andy Coulson’s wife?

Is Andy Coulson still married?

• Coulson is married to a woman named Emma (Wikipedia (encyclopedic reference))
• The couple have two children
• Current marital status is reported as still married, though Emma’s surname has not been publicly disclosed

The implication: Coulson has kept his family life largely private, a departure from his tabloid past. This discretion may itself be a deliberate communications strategy.

What brought down the News of the World?

What was the phone‑hacking scandal?

• The News of the World routinely intercepted voicemails of celebrities, politicians, and crime victims (Wikipedia (encyclopedic reference))
• Revelations in 2011 that the paper hacked the phone of murdered teenager Milly Dowler triggered public outrage (BBC News (UK public broadcaster))

How did the News of the World close?

• Owner News International announced the paper’s closure in July 2011 (BBC News)
• The final edition was published on 10 July 2011, after 168 years of publication

The catch: the News of the World was a profitable, powerful institution. Its collapse shows how quickly a communications crisis can destroy an entire enterprise—a lesson Coulson now sells to corporate clients.

What happened to Andy Coulson and Rebekah Brooks?

What is Rebekah Brooks doing now?

• Brooks was acquitted of phone‑hacking charges in 2014 (BBC News (UK public broadcaster))
• She returned to News International as CEO of News UK in 2015 (Wikipedia (encyclopedic reference))

Is Rebekah Brooks still married to Ross Kemp?

• Brooks was married to actor Ross Kemp from 2002 to 2009
• She is now married to Charlie Brooks, a racehorse trainer (Wikipedia)

The divergence: while Coulson went to prison and then entrepreneurship, Brooks was acquitted and returned to the top of the media industry. Their paths illustrate how the scandal’s outcomes split along lines of culpability, legal strategy, and institutional power.

Timeline

The pattern: within months of leaving prison, Coulson had already launched his crisis management firm. His recovery from scandal has been as strategic as his rise once was.

The implication: the timeline shows a clear pivot—within months of leaving prison, Coulson had already launched Coulson Partners. His recovery from scandal has been as strategic as his rise once was.

What’s clear and what’s not

Quotes from the story

“Authentic, judgement‑free, useful storytelling from crisis survivors and experts.”

Global Player (podcast platform) — description of the Crisis What Crisis? podcast

“Coulson says he enjoys crisis comms work because he lived it.”

Influence Online (communications industry publication) — 2025 interview

The pattern: both sources frame Coulson’s credibility as rooted in personal experience—a direct, if ironic, selling point for a man who helped create the very chaos he now helps others manage.

Summary

Andy Coulson’s story is not one of redemption in the traditional sense—he did not apologise, nor did he retreat. Instead, he turned his notoriety into a marketable expertise. For anyone in the communications industry, the implication is clear: your past is either a liability to be hidden or a credential to be repackaged. Coulson chose the latter, and it’s working.

Having rebuilt his career behind the scenes, Andy Coulsons transformation into a crisis consultant offers a nuanced contrast to his earlier tabloid notoriety.

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