US President Donald Trump has forced a public apology from the BBC after an edited Panorama segment made it appear as though he directly encouraged supporters to attack the Capitol on January 6 2021.
The correction landed only hours before a deadline Trump had set, threatening a billion dollar lawsuit unless the broadcaster retracted what he called false and defamatory claims.
The controversy erupted after a Panorama episode titled Trump: A Second Chance was found to have spliced lines from the former president’s speech that were spoken nearly an hour apart.
The edit created the impression that Trump told supporters to walk to the Capitol and fight like hell as one continuous call to action.
The BBC has since admitted it was an error of judgement and said the programme will not air again in its current form.
A spokesperson confirmed that BBC chairman Samir Shah sent a personal apology to the White House.
The broadcaster insisted that while the mistake was serious, it does not agree that a defamation case has any legal basis.
The segment had followed an internal review prompted by criticism from Michael Prescott, a former adviser to the BBC’s Editorial Standards Committee.
The fallout has already shaken the top of the organisation. Director general Tim Davie and head of news Deborah Turness resigned on Sunday as pressure mounted on the corporation to restore credibility.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the BBC needed to get its house in order.
Legal experts say Trump could still pursue a lawsuit in the United States. Robert Spritzer, an American political scientist, told Metro that the statute of limitations has expired in Britain but not in American courts.
He added that litigation has long been one of Trump’s preferred weapons, making further legal action entirely possible.
