BBC Apologizes to Trump Over Editing of His January 6 Speech, but Refuses To Pay Him

The British Broadcasting Corp. says it “sincerely” apologizes to President Trump for its editing of his speech on January 6, 2021, but that it will not compensate him for the edit. Earlier this month, the BBC’s news program “Panorama” came under fire over accusations that it doctored video of Mr. Trump’s January 6, 2021 speech on the Mall to make it appear that he encouraged his supporters to engage in violence.In the episode that aired in 2024, Mr. Trump is seen saying, “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol… and I’ll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell.”But on the day, the remarks about fighting came 50 minutes after the first part of the quote, and the clip did not include his call for his supporters to “peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.”Mr. Trump threatened to sue the BBC for defamation for “no less than” $1 billion unless it issued an apology, retracted the clip, and compensated him for what he said was the harm caused by the “false, defamatory, disparaging, and inflammatory” statements about him.On Thursday, the BBC said, “Lawyers for the BBC have written to President Trump’s legal team in response to a letter received on Sunday.”“BBC chair Samir Shah has separately sent a personal letter to the White House making clear to President Trump that he and the corporation are sorry for the edit of the president’s speech on 6 January 2021, which featured in the program,” the broadcaster added.It also said it has “no plans” to rebroadcast the “Panorama” documentary on any of its platforms. However, the BBC said it does not plan to pay Mr. Trump. “While the BBC sincerely regrets the manner in which the video clip was edited, we strongly disagree there is a basis for a defamation claim.”The accusation about the Trump edit appeared in a larger dossier compiled by a former journalist and adviser to the BBC, Michael Prescott, that laid out allegations of systemic bias at the network. Amid the uproar over the dossier, the BBC director general, Tim Davie, and the head of news, Deborah Turness, resigned. During an interview with Fox News earlier this week, Mr. Trump was asked if he would sue the BBC. He responded, “Well, I guess I have to, you know, why not? Because they defrauded the public, and they’ve admitted it.”“I think I have an obligation to do it, because you can’t get people, you can’t allow people to do that,” he added. After his lawsuit threat, the BBC was hit with another accusation of a misleading edit. That accusation stemmed from a “Newsnight” episode that aired in 2022.In that clip, Mr. Trump is seen saying, “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol. And we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women. And we fight. We fight like hell. And if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not gonna have a country anymore.”After his comment, the clip showed footage from the Capitol riot as a voiceover stated, “And fight they did.”Mr. Trump has sued several news outlets over their coverage, including ABC News, CBS News, the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal.ABC News paid $16 million to settle Mr. Trump’s lawsuit after a star anchor, George Stephanopoulos, said the president had been “found liable for rape.” In a 2023 civil trial brought by writer E. Jean Carroll, a jury found Mr. Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation, but not for rape under New York civil law.CBS’s parent company, Paramount, also agreed to pay $16 million to settle Mr. Trump’s lawsuit over the editing of a“60 Minutes” interview with Vice President Harris in October 2024. However, Paramount refused to apologize for the editing.

BBC Apologizes to Trump Over Editing of His January 6 Speech, but Refuses To Pay Him

BBC Apologizes to Trump Over Editing of His January 6 Speech, but Refuses To Pay Him

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