The BBC has issued an official apology to U.S. President Donald Trump, just hours before the deadline he set to withdraw a threatened $1 billion defamation lawsuit against the broadcaster.
The dispute stemmed from an episode of Panorama that featured an edited clip of Trump’s January 6, 2021 speech, which appeared to show him urging supporters to attack the U.S. Capitol. The BBC later admitted that the segment had been misleadingly spliced, with parts of the speech delivered nearly an hour apart.
In a statement, the broadcaster described the edit as an “error of judgment” and confirmed that the programme, Trump: A Second Chance?, “will not be broadcast again in this form on any BBC platforms.”
BBC chairman Samir Shah reportedly sent a personal letter of apology to the White House, expressing regret over the error while maintaining that there was “no basis for a defamation claim.”
The controversy has triggered major fallout within the BBC, leading to the resignations of Director-General Tim Davie and News Chief Deborah Turness.
President Trump accused the BBC of spreading “false and defamatory” claims, vowing legal action unless the corporation apologised and issued compensation.
“The BBC would like to apologise to President Trump for that error of judgment,” a statement on the network’s website read. “Our edit unintentionally gave the mistaken impression that President Trump had made a direct call for violent action.”
Political analyst Robert Spritzer noted that any lawsuit would likely be filed in the U.S., as the statute of limitations for defamation in the U.K. has already expired.
