BBC-Trump crisis live: Broadcaster ‘set to apologise’ to president as $1bn legal threat deadline looms
The BBC is ‘preparing to apologize’ to President Trump for editing one of his speeches as the $1 billion legal threat deadline is fast approaching on 14 November.
Although outgoing chief executive Tim Davie told company employees on Tuesday they should ‘defend our journalism’, he insisted the narrative should not be controlled “not just by our enemies”.
The publication of Trump’s January 6 speech in Panorama magazine was a major factor in the resignation of executive director Tim Davie and news chief Deborah Turness.
As his legal team prepared its response to the complaint, Trump called on the company to retract, apologize and pay compensation “for the harm caused.”
The broadcaster is now more vulnerable than ever, its former chairman told the British parliament.
Lord Tony Hall of Birkenhead admitted the editing of Donald Trump’s speech, which prompted the US president to threaten a billion-dollar lawsuit, was “wrong and damaging”. But he also reiterated his statements that there was no “institutional bias” at the company.
Senior figures have defended the BBC’s journalism after the broadcaster was branded “fake news” by the US president, although multiple reports say the broadcaster’s legal team is preparing its response to the complaint about its Panorama episode.
British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the BBC should “get its house in order” when mistakes were made. The US president said he had an “obligation” to sue the BBC over the way his speech on January 6, 2021 was edited.
Speaking for the first time since his lawyers took the unprecedented step of threatening to sue the company for $1 billion, he told Fox News: “They actually changed my speech on January 6, which was a very nice, very calming speech, and it sounded like a radical speech.”
Keir Starmer breaks silence on Donald Trump’s threat to sue BBC for $1bn damages
Keir Starmer breaks silence on Donald Trump’s threat to sue BBC for $1bn damages
Sir Keir Starmer has called on the BBC to “get its house in order” after Donald Trump threatened to sue the company for $1 billion. The Prime Minister was warned by Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey to tell the US president to drop his demand during PMQs on Wednesday (November 12), stating that Mr Trump was “trying to destroy our BBC”. Sir Keir responded by saying he believed in “a strong and independent BBC”, but acknowledged that the company “needs to get its house in order” when “mistakes are made”. “The BBC must maintain the highest standards, be accountable and correct mistakes quickly.”
Namita Singh13 November 2025 07:00
Trump’s lawsuit against BBC will face these ‘legal pitfalls’ if he hopes to win $1bn
Donald Trump will face legal hurdles as he sues BBC for $1bn over “defamatory” statements PanoramaThis is partly due to the fact that the documentary has not been released in the United States.
Under libel laws in Florida, where the US president has threatened to take legal action, Trump: A Second Chance? In order for a compensation lawsuit to be filed, it must be heard in the state.
The BBC, which is currently reviewing a letter from Mr Trump’s lawyer about the legal threat, has not confirmed whether the program was broadcast in the US state.
Media lawyer Mark Stephens said it could present an early hurdle for the US president if it is not shown on iPlayer in the US or on the broadcaster’s global feed, my colleague reports Alex Ross.
Namita Singh13 November 2025 06:21
Who is Robbie Gibb, at the heart of the BBC scandal and linked to Boris Johnson?
BBC staff and leading political figures are calling for Robbie Gibb to resign from the BBC board.
So who is the Conservative Party ‘agent’ at the center of a complex web of political and media interests? Katie Rosseinsky
Namita Singh13 November 2025 06:03
Who are the 10 people tasked with appointing the new director general of the BBC?
Sir Robbie Gibb, a board member, came under harsh criticism in the House of Commons on Wednesday.
However, Starmer declined to comment on “individual BBC broadcasts”.
The BBC board, led by non-executive chairman Samir Shah, consists of 10 members, and the chief executive also serves on the board and chairs the executive committee.
Namita Singh13 November 2025 05:00
Voices: The four-word message the BBC should send Trump about his $1bn lawsuit
American broadcast media capitulated in the face of Trump’s legal claims. It’s time for the BBC to show they are no longer to be feared and call the president’s bluff, he writes Alan Rusbridger
Namita Singh13 November 2025 04:40
Media lawyer says BBC has ‘the right to take Trump’s legal threat seriously’
Media lawyer says BBC has ‘the right to take seriously’ threat to sue Trump
The BBC was right to take Donald Trump’s threat to sue “seriously”, a media lawyer has warned. The US president has threatened to seek $1 billion from the company over an episode of a Panorama documentary that he claims “slandered” him by selectively editing his speech on January 6, 2021. In an exclusive interview with The Independent, media lawyer Rupert Cowper-Coles said the BBC was right to take the case “seriously” and added that it would be worrying if British media outlets were subjected to damages “close” to the figure offered by Trump’s legal team. But the US president may face difficulties suing the company for “defamatory” statements about Panorama, in part because the documentary has not been released in the United States.
Namita Singh13 November 2025 04:22
Ed Davey criticizes Trump’s $1bn legal threat to BBC
Athena Stavrou13 November 2025 04:00
Scandal-hit BBC now more vulnerable than ever, ex-boss says
A former BBC chief has warned that the under-fire public broadcaster is more vulnerable than ever to the current crisis.
Lord Hall of Birkenhead acknowledged that the editing of Donald Trump’s speech, which prompted the US president to threaten a billion-dollar lawsuit, was “wrong and damaging”, while reiterating his words that there was “no institutional bias” at the company.
The independent cross-reviewer, who served as chief executive of the BBC between 2013 and 2020, also called for an end to the process of reviewing the broadcaster’s agreement or charter every ten years, which he argued was being used as a way to “subvert” the organisation.
He argued that halting the need for future refurbishment would strengthen the company’s independence and be “a great legacy from this government”.
Namita Singh13 November 2025 03:39
The four-word message the BBC should send Trump about his $1 billion lawsuit
Athena Stavrou13 November 2025 03:20
Summary: Davie explains his departure
Speaking to staff by phone on Tuesday morning, outgoing chief executive Tim Davie outlined three main reasons for his departure.
BBC News reported that he said the brutality of the role, the impending renewal of the Charter and criticism of the Panorama documentary about Trump were contributing factors.
Athena Stavrou13 November 2025 03:00
