The BBC has apologized to former President Donald Trump after airing a misleadingly edited portion of his Jan. 6, 2021, speech — but says there is no basis for his threatened defamation lawsuit.
The disputed footage appeared in Panorama’s episode “Trump: A Second Chance?”, which aired ahead of the 2024 U.S. presidential election. The program used clips from Trump’s speech that were arranged non-sequentially, creating the impression he encouraged violent action, according to NBC News. The broadcast included his call to “fight like hell,” but did not feature his remarks urging supporters to remain peaceful.
Following the episode, Trump’s legal team demanded a retraction and threatened a $1 billion defamation lawsuit, arguing the edit created “false, defamatory, disparaging, misleading or inflammatory statements” about him.
On Thursday, Nov. 13, BBC Chair Samir Shah sent a letter to the White House acknowledging the issue. Shah wrote that the edit unintentionally made it appear as though Trump delivered a direct call for violence in a single continuous section of the speech.
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BBC News Director-General Tim Davie and CEO Deborah Turness have since resigned. Davie acknowledged the error while also stating the broadcaster intends to defend itself, per NPR.
However, despite the apology, the BBC maintains it is not liable for defamation. “While the BBC sincerely regrets the manner in which the video clip was edited, we strongly disagree that there is a basis for a defamation claim,” the letter stated.
Questions also remain about whether Trump could pursue legal action in the U.K., where defamation payouts are typically far lower, rarely surpassing $132,000. The window to file such a claim appears to have passed more than a year ago.
The dispute adds to a string of recent settlements Trump has reached with U.S. media companies. In July, he secured a $16 million settlement with Paramount after suing over a 60 Minutes interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris during the 2024 campaign—while a merger between Paramount and Skydance Media was under regulatory review.
In December 2024, ABC News agreed to a $15 million charitable payment to Trump’s presidential library after resolving a libel case involving anchor George Stephanopoulos, who misstated details of Trump’s civil liability in the E. Jean Carroll case.
One month later, Meta agreed to pay $25 million to settle Trump’s 2021 lawsuit over his suspension from its platforms in the aftermath of the Capitol riot.
