US President Donald Trump has said that he will take legal action against the BBC for editing his speech in the Panorama Program. The BBC apologised, but it refused to pay him any compensation.
President Trump said while talking to journalists, “We’ll sue them for anywhere between $1bn and $5bn probably sometime next week.”
The BBC said the edit of the 6 January 2021 speech accidentally gave the wrong impression. However, the BBC apologised but confirmed that the institution will not pay him any compensation.
After the controversy, BBC director general Tim Davie and head of news Deborah Turness resigned from their posts.
“I think I have to do it,” Trump told reporters of his plan to take legal action. “They cheated. They changed the words coming out of my mouth.”
Trump also said that he had not discussed the issue with the United Kingdom’s (UK) Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, adding that he will call him on the weekend.
Earlier this week, the US president’s lawyers warned they would sue the BBC for $1 billion unless the broadcaster apologised, corrected the story, and paid him compensation.
Also Read, BBC chief quits over Trump documentary controversy
BBC Director General Tim Davie and Head of News Deborah Turness have resigned after facing criticism over a Panorama documentary about Donald Trump. The programme was accused of editing Trump’s speech in a way that made it look like he was telling people to attack the US Capitol.
Deborah Turness, who had been BBC News CEO since 2022, said in her statement that the controversy had started to harm the BBC — an institution she deeply cares about. She said, “As CEO of BBC News and Current Affairs, I am responsible, and I offered my resignation last night.” She added that while mistakes were made, claims that BBC News is politically biased are false.
Tim Davie did not directly mention the Panorama documentary in his statement. However, he said the ongoing debate around BBC News influenced his decision to step down. He noted that although the BBC was performing well overall, there had been errors, and as director general, he must take full responsibility.
