Corporation apologises for misleading Trump edit but firmly rejects his demand for compensation
The BBC has issued an apology to United States President Donald Trump for a Panorama episode that stitched together separate parts of his six January 2021 speech. The corporation accepted the edit created the mistaken impression that Trump had directly urged violent action. However it has refused his demand for one billion dollars in compensation and insists there is no basis for a defamation claim.
The scandal has already triggered major upheaval inside the corporation. Director general Tim Davie resigned on Sunday along with head of news Deborah Turness. Their departures came as legal pressure from Trump intensified and as further scrutiny landed on BBC output from previous years.
The apology appeared late on Thursday in the organisations Corrections and Clarifications section. The BBC said its review concluded the Panorama edit unintentionally led viewers to believe they were watching a continuous section of the speech. Instead the clip had combined two separate lines spoken more than fifty minutes apart. The combined version appeared to show Trump urging supporters to walk to the Capitol and immediately telling them to fight like hell.
Lawyers representing Trump have threatened to sue for one billion dollars unless the BBC issues a full retraction and compensation. They set a deadline of ten o clock GMT on Friday for a formal response. A spokesperson for the corporation confirmed its lawyers had replied in writing and that BBC chair Samir Shah had sent a personal letter to the White House expressing regret for the edit but rejecting liability.
The letter from the BBC outlines five reasons why Trump has no legal case. First the corporation insists the programme was never distributed on United States channels and could only be accessed in the United Kingdom. Second it argues that the documentary did not harm Trump and notes he was re elected shortly after its broadcast. Third it states that the clip was shortened to condense a very long speech and was not intended to mislead. Fourth it emphasises that the remark formed just twelve seconds of an hour long programme containing supportive voices as well. Finally it points to strong protections for political speech under United States defamation law.
While the BBC apologised for the misleading impression created it rejected entirely the claim that it acted with malice. A senior insider said there is strong confidence in the legal defence being mounted.
Hours before the apology a second problematic edit of the same Trump speech emerged. A Newsnight broadcast from 2022 appeared to splice together lines from different moments of the speech while presenter Kirsty Wark narrated the phrase and fight they did over footage of the Capitol riot. Former White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney responded live on air at the time and said the video clearly merged the lines in a misleading way.
A BBC spokesperson said the corporation holds itself to the highest editorial standards and is examining this second incident. The revelation prompted Trumps legal team to claim the BBC has engaged in a pattern of defamation.
The controversy has reignited political debate in the United Kingdom. Liberal Democrats leader Sir Ed Davey urged the prime minister to call Trump directly and defend the impartiality and independence of the BBC as he described the threat of legal action as extremely serious.
The concerns over Panorama began after the Telegraph published a leaked memo written by a former adviser to the BBCs editorial standards committee. The document criticised the handling of the Trump clip as well as the corporations reporting of trans issues and BBC Arabics coverage of the Israel Gaza war.
The full legal confrontation is still unfolding. While the BBC has apologised for the editing error it is standing firm on the refusal to compensate Trump. The White House has yet to comment on the apology or the corporations detailed legal defence.