The BBC has issued an apology to United States President, Donald Trump, for the way his January 6 speech was edited in a recent programme.
In a statement released on Thursday, the broadcaster acknowledged that its editing created an inaccurate impression, though it stressed that it did not believe the issue amounted to defamation.
“We accept that our edit unintentionally created the impression that we were showing a single continuous section of the speech, rather than excerpts from different points in the speech, and that this gave the mistaken impression that President Trump had made a direct call for violent action,” the BBC said.
Alongside the public apology, the organisation’s legal team responded to a formal letter from Mr Trump’s lawyers, who had demanded a full retraction of the documentary and threatened a $1 billion lawsuit.
“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 legal team stated.
“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.”
Mr Trump’s legal representatives had set a deadline of November 14 for what they called a “full and fair retraction” of the Panorama documentary, warning that failure to comply would result in legal action seeking at least $1 billion (£760 million) in damages.
“If the BBC does not comply with the above by November 14, 2025, at 5:00 p.m. EST, President Trump will be left with no alternative but to enforce his legal and equitable rights, all of which are expressly reserved and are not waived, including by filing legal action for no less than $1,000,000,000 (One Billion Dollars) in damages. The BBC is on notice,” wrote Alejandro Brito, one of Mr Trump’s attorneys.
