It appears the BBC is taking President Donald Trump’s legal threats seriously. The broadcaster has reportedly apologized to Trump for a Panorama episode that spliced portions of his Jan. 6, 2021, speech together, though it has rejected his demand for compensation.
The dispute between Trump and the BBC stems from a Panorama documentary that included misleadingly edited footage of Trump’s Jan. 6, 2021 speech. A whistleblower revealed that the program spliced separate parts of the speech together, making Trump’s remarks appear more inflammatory than they were in sequence.
The corporation said the edit had given “the mistaken impression that President Trump had made a direct call for violent action” and said it would not show the 2024 program again.
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However, the BBC maintains that the mistake does not constitute defamation. Trump has threatened to sue the broadcaster for $1 billion, claiming the documentary harmed his reputation and misled the public. He gave the BBC a deadline to retract the content and apologize, stating he feels an “obligation” to pursue legal action. Legal experts note that Trump would face a high bar in U.S. courts, where he must prove “actual malice,” and practical challenges also exist regarding jurisdiction and damages.
“We accept that our edit unintentionally created the impression that we were showing a single continuous section of the speech, rather than excerpts from different points in the speech, and that this gave the mistaken impression that President Trump had made a direct call for violent action,” the statement said.
Lawyers for the BBC have written to President Trump’s legal team in response to a letter received on Sunday, a BBC spokesperson said.
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“BBC chair Samir Shah has separately sent a personal letter to the White House making clear to President Trump that he and the corporation are sorry for the edit of the president’s speech on 6 January 2021, which featured in the programme,” they said.
They added: “While the BBC sincerely regrets the manner in which the video clip was edited, we strongly disagree there is a basis for a defamation claim.”
The corporation has apologized to Trump and committed not to re-broadcast the program, while top executives and the chair have taken steps to address the matter with the White House. Despite these measures, Trump has threatened legal action for $1 billion, arguing that the documentary misrepresented him and harmed his reputation. Legal experts note that pursuing such a claim in U.S. courts would be challenging, given the requirement to prove “actual malice” and practical issues around jurisdiction and enforceable damages.