US EditionBBC apologises to Trump over speech edit but refuses to pay compensation
The BBC retracted an edited video of Trump's January 6 speech and apologized but denied defamation, rejecting a $1 billion compensation demand amid executive resignations.
- On Thursday the BBC apologised to Donald Trump, retracted the Panorama episode and sent a personal letter to the White House, but refused compensation, BBC chair Samir Shah said.
- A third‑party production company spliced separate parts of Trump's January 6, 2021 speech, combining excerpts nearly an hour apart in the Panorama programme aired days before the 2024 U.S. presidential election.
- A leaked Prescott memo to the Telegraph said the BBC 'completely misled' viewers, triggering more than 500 complaints and resignations by Tim Davie and Deborah Turness.
- Trump's legal team led by Alejandro Brito set a Thursday deadline and threatened a $1 billion lawsuit unless the BBC retracted, apologized, and compensated him; the BBC refused to pay, risking licence‑fee funds.
- The controversy has drawn political scrutiny, with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer urging the BBC to 'get their house in order' and the BBC probing a second possible misleading edit following The Telegraph reports.
331 Articles
331 Articles
BBC Admits Editing Error As Trump Threatens Massive Lawsuit
The BBC apologized to President Donald Trump on Thursday after admitting it improperly edited a key portion of his January 6, 2021, speech in a documentary, according to CNN. Trump had threatened a $1 billion lawsuit, calling the edit defamatory and harmful. BBC says sorry to Donald Trump for Panorama edit of speech, but rejects his demand for compensation https://t.co/D3Brj9vraf— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) November 13, 2025 In a letter to…
BBC apologises to Trump but rejects legal basis for defamation claim
The British Broadcasting Corporation sent a personal apology to US President Donald Trump on Thursday but said there was no legal basis for him to sue the public broadcaster over a documentary his lawyers called defamatory. The documentary, which aired on the BBC's "Panorama" news programme just before the US presidential election in 2024, spliced together three parts of Trump's speech on January 6, 2021, when his supporters stormed the Capitol.…
National Post
VarietyBBC apologizes to Trump but rejects his demands for compensation
The British Broadcasting Corp. issued a formal apology to Donald Trump on Thursday over the misleading edit of the US president’s speech in a documentary program late last year, but rejected his demands for compensation.
In the turmoil after the broadcast of a misleading montage of a speech by the American leader, Samir Shah split with a "personal letter" of excuses on Thursday. But the British public audiovisual group also refuted any "legal basis" for the defamation complaint that the US president threatens.
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