US President Donald Trump has threatened the BBC with a $1 billion lawsuit following accusations that a documentary improperly edited one of his speeches to suggest he encouraged the Capitol Hill riots in January 2021.
Mr. Trump’s legal team has sent a letter to the public broadcaster demanding it “immediately retract” the Panorama programme by November 14, labelling the documentary “false and defamatory.”
Leadership Resignations Over Editing Error
The legal threat comes amid a major internal crisis at the BBC, which began on Sunday night with the resignations of Director-General Tim Davie and CEO of News Deborah Turness.
Their resignations followed a leaked memo from former BBC adviser Michael Prescott, which alleged that the 2024 Panorama documentary, broadcast before last year’s US election, had “stitched together” two separate parts of a Trump speech. This editing gave the impression that the former President had explicitly called for violent action leading to the Capitol Hill riots.
BBC Chairman Samir Shah later acknowledged the situation, apologising for an “error of judgement” regarding the edit.
In a letter to UK parliamentarians, Mr. Shah conceded that the editing “did give the impression of a direct call for violent action.” He stated that the BBC is now considering how to formally respond to the legal demands from Mr. Trump’s lawyers, which include a full retraction of the documentary, a public apology, and the financial compensation.
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