Donald Trump has warned the BBC that it must retract and apologise for what the US president calls “false, defamatory, disparaging, and inflammatory statements” in a Panorama documentary about his Jan 6 speech, or face a 1$ billion lawsuit.
His legal team has given the broadcaster until Friday to respond, according to Fox News. The corporation is already shaken by two senior resignations. BBC director general Tim Davie and BBC News chief Deborah Turness both stepped down as the row grew.
The dispute centres on the Panorama film “Trump: A Second Chance”, which aired on October 28, 2024, shortly before the US presidential election. The programme showed a shortened and edited portion of Trump’s speech to supporters before the Capitol attack, and critics argue that it misrepresented what he said on the day. The White House called the BBC’s edit “misleading."
Trump’s litigation counsel sent a formal notice on Sunday to BBC chair Samir Shah and general counsel Sarah Jones. The letter, obtained by Fox News , claims the documentary “fabricated” statements and presented them to viewers without context.
The letter says the documentary mixed together separate lines to show Trump telling supporters to “fight” but ignored the full passage and removed his call to protest peacefully. It also says the content went viral and reached tens of millions of people. Trump is demanding a full retraction, a public apology and compensation. The letter also instructs the BBC not to delete documents or data related to the programme.
The notice warns that if the BBC does not comply by November 14 at 5pm EST, Trump will file legal action seeking “no less than 1,000,000,000 dollars in damages”.
A BBC spokesperson said, “We will review the letter and respond directly in due course.”
Trump reacted to the resignations of Time Davie and Deborah Turness on Truth Social, posting, “The TOP people in the BBC, including TIM DAVIE, the BOSS, are all quitting FIRED, because they were caught ‘doctoring’ my very good (PERFECT!) speech of January 6th.” He thanked The Telegraph for exposing what he called “Corrupt ‘Journalists’” and claimed the edit was an attempt to “step on the scales of a Presidential Election”.
A spokesman for Trump’s legal team told Fox News Digital, “The BBC defamed President Trump by intentionally and deceitfully editing its documentary in order to try and interfere in the Presidential Election.” Trump’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt also said the BBC is “100% fake news” and “a propaganda machine”.
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