Former US President Donald Trump has filed a $5 billion (£3.7 billion) lawsuit against the BBC in a Florida court, alleging the broadcaster defamed him by editing his January 6, 2021 speech in a Panorama documentary.
The lawsuit claims the BBC “intentionally, maliciously, and deceptively doctored” his words.
The legal action focuses on a segment of the documentary, which aired in the UK ahead of the 2024 US election. In his original speech, Trump told supporters, “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women.” Over 50 minutes later, he added, “And we fight. We fight like hell.”
The Panorama edit spliced these phrases together as: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol… and I’ll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell.”
The BBC has acknowledged this edit created “the mistaken impression” that Trump had “made a direct call for violent action,” and apologized for the error last month. However, it has rejected demands for compensation and maintains there is no “basis for a defamation claim.”
The controversy led to an internal BBC memo that criticised the editing process and resulted in the resignations of Director General Tim Davie and Head of News Deborah Turness in November.
In pre-litigation correspondence, BBC lawyers argued there was no malice in the edit and that Trump was not harmed, as he was re-elected after the broadcast. They also noted the documentary was not distributed on BBC’s US channels and was geo-restricted on BBC iPlayer to UK viewers.
Trump’s lawsuit contests this, citing alleged distribution agreements with third-party corporations outside the UK and suggesting Floridians could have accessed the programme via VPNs or the streaming service BritBox.
“The Panorama Documentary’s publicity… establishes the immense likelihood that citizens of Florida accessed the Documentary,” the suit states.
The BBC has not yet responded to the formal lawsuit.
By James Kisoo
