Donald Trump threatens to sue BBC for $1bn over Panorama edited speech fiasco
Donald Trump has threatened to sue the BBC for $1bn (£759m) over the editing of his speech. Panorama This comes despite the broadcaster having already publicly apologized for the “error in judgment” involving the president of two senior executives.
The US president’s legal team wrote a letter to the company on Monday demanding a full and fair retraction, an immediate apology and compensation by Friday; Otherwise he will take legal action, adding: “The BBC is warning.”
His threat represents the latest blow to the broadcaster amid accusations that he “misled” viewers by selectively editing a speech he gave on January 6, 2021.
“President Trump will have no choice but to exercise his legal and equitable rights, all of which are expressly reserved and not waived, including pursuing legal action for damages of at least $1,000,000,000 (one billion dollars),” the letter states.
BBC chief Samir Shah said the institution was “considering how to respond” to the ultimatum but warned the BBC must “prepare for all the consequences”.
Mr. Trump has previously filed lawsuits against media companies. New York Times and CNN. His lawyers said the BBC violated Florida’s libel law.
The incident follows the leak of a memo written by Michael Prescott, a former external adviser to the BBC’s broadcasting standards committee.
The memo shares concerns about institutional bias within the company and notes that the way clips of Mr. Trump’s speech in the 2024 episode were put together made it seem like he told his supporters he would march with them to the U.S. Capitol to “fight like hell”; The section in which Mr. Trump said he wanted his supporters to demonstrate peacefully is being removed.
“The BBC wishes to apologize for this error of judgment,” Shah said in a letter to MPs on Monday. But he rejected allegations of systematic bias and denied the BBC was trying to “bury” the issue.
Two of the BBC’s most senior figures, director general Tim Davie and News chief executive Deborah Turness, resigned amid the backlash.
Mr Trump welcomed the BBC resignations and claimed on social media that they were trying to “ride the scales of the presidential election”, adding: “What a terrible thing for democracy!”
It is understood that Sir Keir Starmer and Mr Trump did not speak over the weekend following their criticism, and neither did US and British officials.
The Prime Minister’s spokesman said he did not believe the BBC was institutionally biased, and Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey called on his counterparts across the political spectrum to “defend the BBC” against Mr Trump.
Times The departures were the result of “thousands of deaths by interruption”, BBC sources said, in the latest episode of a series of high-profile controversies involving the broadcaster.
Over the summer he was forced to issue another apology for the livestream of Bob Vylan’s controversial Glastonbury set. He was subjected to intense criticism for his documentary in February Gaza: How to Survive in a War Zone?When it was revealed that the program’s 13-year-old narrator was the son of a Hamas official.
In May, veteran presenter Gary Lineker announced he would be leaving the BBC earlier than planned after 26 years with it, following a row over social media posts.
In November last year, accusations of misconduct and inappropriate behavior MasterChef host Gregg Wallace was also the subject of internal investigations.
Questions have been raised about how effectively the BBC has dealt with accusations of institutional bias; because the BBC could neither defend itself nor apologize when the note was published.
Katie Razzall, the BBC’s culture and media editor, said the broadcaster had a “ready to go” statement and accepted it should have made it clear that additions had been made to the speech, but the board instead decided to send a letter to parliament’s culture, media and sport committee.
Peter Fincham, former controller of BBC One, said the broadcaster had a “habit” of “playing dead” during crises.
“One of the BBC’s worst habits is to think it’s okay to play dead,” he told Radio 5 Live, adding: “This report came in May and they did nothing about it.”
It was also reported that Ms. Turness was “torn to pieces” at a board meeting last week, and that her former editor Sun David Yelland newspaper described the resignations as a “coup” and an “inside job”.
Several US media companies, including CBS and ABC News, recently settled lawsuits filed by the US president.
While Mr Shah acknowledged criticism of Trump’s editing, he also hit back at suggestions that the BBC was trying to cover up allegations of bias or had failed to address any problems. Asked whether the accusations of systemic bias were false, he said “yes.”
“The BBC wishes to apologize for this error of judgement,” he said in a letter to MPs.
He said there were cases of individual error and issues that pointed to underlying problems, but the concept of systemic or institutional bias did not apply.
“I worked at BBC News,” he told the BBC. “I know that the DNA and culture of BBC News is to be impartial. That is to deliver the best and most trusted news we can.”
