The BBC apologized to US President Donald Trump after threatening to file a billion-dollar lawsuit over a TV show. The British broadcaster also announced on its website that it would no longer show the program. However, there is no intention to pay compensation.
Trump’s legal team has threatened the BBC in a letter that it will file a lawsuit if the broadcaster does not apologize, withdraw the broadcast and pay compensation. The lawyers set a deadline of 11 p.m. on Friday evening (CET/17.00 Washington time) and threatened to sue for at least one billion US dollars (equivalent to more than 860 million euros).
No compensation
The BBC also reported that there were no plans to pay compensation. There is no basis for a defamation lawsuit. It’s unclear whether a lawsuit will be filed.
The dispute revolves around broadcasters’ editing of Trump’s January 6, 2021 speech for the BBC program “Panorama”. It was broadcast shortly before the 2024 US presidential election. In January 2021, the Capitol, the seat of the US Parliament in Washington, was stormed. At that time, Trump supporters tried to prevent Democrat Joe Biden’s election victory from being officially confirmed there. Trump also gave a speech that day.
The BBC admitted its error. Inadvertently, it gave the impression that Trump’s speech was presented coherently, even though the footage was from different parts. This gave the impression that he was directly calling for violent action, the BBC website said.
The case has led to resignations: TV station boss Tim Davie and the journalist responsible for the story Deborah Turness resigned from their posts.
