BBC Vows to Contest Trump’s $10bn Lawsuit Over Edited Panorama Footage

The BBC has said it will fight a $10 billion lawsuit filed by US President Donald Trump over the editing of his January 6, 2021 speech in a Panorama documentary.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the broadcaster said it would defend the case but declined to comment further, citing ongoing legal proceedings. Trump filed the lawsuit on Monday in the US state of Florida, seeking $5 billion in damages on each of two counts, alleging defamation and violations of trade practices laws.

The legal action follows controversy surrounding a Panorama programme aired a week before the 2024 US presidential election. According to a leaked internal BBC memo published by The Telegraph in November, the documentary edited together two separate sections of Trump’s speech, giving the impression that he explicitly encouraged the January 6 Capitol riot.

In the original speech, Trump said supporters would “walk down to the Capitol” and “cheer on” lawmakers. However, the documentary showed a sequence in which he appeared to say: “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 later acknowledged that the two clips used in the edit were delivered more than 50 minutes apart.

Last month, the BBC issued an apology to Trump over the edit but rejected his demand for compensation, maintaining that there was no basis for a defamation claim.

The controversy has already had significant repercussions for the broadcaster. BBC Director-General Tim Davie and News CEO Deborah Turness both resigned last month amid mounting criticism over the handling of the programme.

Reacting to the lawsuit, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt described the BBC as a “leftist propaganda machine” and accused it of spreading “fake news.”

The case is expected to draw further scrutiny as it proceeds through the US courts.