The British state-funded broadcaster has been wracked by a scandal over unethical edits of a speech given by the US president
US President Donald Trump has threatened to sue the BBC for $1 billion, according to media reports. He is demanding the retraction of a documentary in which a speech he gave before the storming of the US Capitol building in Washington, DC in 2021 was unethically edited.
The British state-funded broadcaster apologized on Monday after two of its top executives, Director-General Tim Davie and Head of News Deborah Turness, resigned amid concerns about impartiality related to the editing of a Panorama documentary titled ‘Trump: A Second Chance?’.
The documentary, aired just before the US election last November, spliced excerpts from Trump’s speech to create the impression he was inciting the January 6 riot by telling supporters he would join them to “fight like hell” at the Capitol.
In a letter dated November 9, Trump’s lawyer, Alejandro Brito, requested a full retraction, an apology, and compensation by a deadline of 10pm UK time on Friday, or face legal action. The BBC stated it would review the letter and “respond directly in due course.”
On Monday, BBC Chairman Samir Shah issued a formal apology, acknowledging in a letter to Parliament’s Culture, Media, and Sport Committee that the edited video gave the “impression of a direct call for violent action.” He concluded, “The BBC would like to apologize for that error of judgement.”
The scandal emerged following a whistleblower memo from former BBC standards adviser Michael Prescott, exposed by The Telegraph last week, which alleged that senior executives ignored complaints raised by the corporation’s own standards watchdog.
The BBC “defamed” Trump by “intentionally and deceitfully editing its documentary in order to try and interfere in the presidential election,” a spokesman for Trump’s legal team said, as quoted by Reuters.
Following her resignation, Turness reportedly rejected claims that the corporation was “institutionally biased.” A spokesperson for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer also denied that the BBC was biased or corrupt while acknowledging that “clearly mistakes have been made in this case.”
Trump’s attack on the BBC is the latest in a series of multibillion-dollar legal battles against various media institutions. Recently, several US media companies, including CBS and ABC News, have settled lawsuits brought by the president. Trump has often argued that most mainstream outlets are left-leaning and biased against conservatives, accusing them of spreading false stories to undermine his presidency.
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