The BBC has issued an apology to President Trump over editing of a speech he gave on Jan. 6, 2021, that aired in its documentary “Trump: A Second Chance.” Mr. Trump had threatened to sue the corporation for $1 billion over the program about the Capitol riot, and the BBC noted in a statement Thursday that the broadcaster “strongly disagree[s]” that there’s a basis for a defamation claim.
BBC lawyers wrote to Mr. Trump’s legal team in response to a letter they received Sunday, the BBC Press Office said. In the letter, lawyers working for Mr. Trump alleged that the Oct. 28, 2024, episode of the network’s “Panorama” documentary program, which was produced by an external production company, sought to mislead viewers by editing together three separate sections of the speech made by Mr. Trump.
“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,” the BBC Press Office said in its statement Thursday. “The BBC has no plans to rebroadcast the documentary ‘Trump: A Second Chance?’ on any BBC platforms.”
“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 press office added.
The White House or Mr. Trump did not immediately comment on the BBC’s apology.
The letter over the weekend from Mr. Trump’s lawyers claimed that the program “has caused President Trump to suffer overwhelming financial and reputational harm,” and that it was defamatory under Florida law. It outlined demands by Mr. Trump that the BBC retract the documentary, issue an apology and “appropriately compensate President Trump for the harm caused.”
The letter did not clarify what would be considered appropriate compensation, but it warned that if the BBC failed to comply with Mr. Trump’s demands by Friday at 5 p.m. ET, Mr. Trump would file “legal action for no less than $1,000,000,000 (One Billion Dollars) in damages.”
The head of the BBC and its CEO of news resigned in the wake of the criticism of the broadcaster’s editing of the speech. The BBC said Director-General Tim Davie and head of news Deborah Turness both announced their resignations on Sunday.
In a letter to staff, Davie said quitting the job after five years “is entirely my decision.”
“Overall, the BBC is delivering well, but there have been some mistakes made and as director-general I have to take ultimate responsibility,” Davie said, adding that he was “working through exact timings with the Board to allow for an orderly transition to a successor over the coming months.”
Turness said that the controversy about the Trump documentary “has reached a stage where it is causing damage to the BBC — an institution that I love. As the CEO of BBC News and Current Affairs, the buck stops with me.”
“While mistakes have been made, I want to be absolutely clear recent allegations that BBC News is institutionally biased are wrong,” she added.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bbc-apologizes-trump-jan-6-editing-speech-panorama-documentary/
