BBC apologises to Trump over speech edit but rejects defamation claim

BBC apologises to Trump over speech edit but rejects defamation claim
BBC logo outside Broadcasting House after top executives resign over bias in London, Nov 10, 2025.
Reuters

The British Broadcasting Corporation sent a personal apology to U.S. 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 U.S. presidential election in 2024, spliced together three parts of Trump's speech on 6 January, 2021, when his supporters stormed the Capitol.

The edit created the impression he had called for violence.

"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 broadcaster said in a statement.

Lawyers for the U.S. president threatened on Sunday to sue the BBC for damages of up to $1 billion unless it withdrew the documentary, apologised to the president and compensated him for "financial and reputational harm."

In its statement, the BBC said Chair Samir Shah on Thursday "sent a personal letter to the White House making clear that he and the corporation were sorry for the edit."

In the Thursday statement, the BBC added that it has no plans to rebroadcast the documentary on any of its platforms.

Earlier on Thursday, the BBC said it was looking into fresh allegations, published in The Telegraph newspaper, over the editing by another of its programmes, 'Newsnight,' of the same speech.

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