Former U.S. President Donald Trump has initiated a substantial $5 billion (£3.7bn) defamation lawsuit against the BBC, accusing the broadcaster of deliberately editing his January 6, 2021, speech, resulting in a false portrayal on a Panorama documentary. Trump's legal team claims the alterations were "intentionally, maliciously, and deceptively" made to damage his reputation.
While the BBC issued an apology regarding the edit, it has refused Trump's demand for compensation and asserted that there is no valid basis for a defamation claim. The lawsuit, filed in Florida, includes accusations of defamation and breaches of trade practices law.
In his original speech before the U.S. Capitol riot, Trump told the crowd to "cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women" as they walked to the Capitol. Minutes later, he emphasized, "And we fight. We fight like hell." However, the Panorama programme depicted him as saying, "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 admitted that the edit could have misled viewers into believing Trump directly incited violence, but it contests the defamation allegation. An internal BBC memo criticised the edit, leading to the resignations of then-director general Tim Davie and head of news Deborah Turness.
According to prior communications from BBC's lawyers, the organisation denies any malicious intent and argues that the documentary did not injure Trump, noting his successful re-election following the programme's airing. Furthermore, they claim the content was not distributed via the BBC's U.S. channels and that the documentary was geographically restricted to the UK on BBC iPlayer.
Trump's suit also references deals the BBC allegedly had with third-party distributors that granted rights to show the documentary outside the UK. The lawsuit claims Floridians could have accessed the programme through VPNs or subscriptions like BritBox, suggesting this broadened viewership supported a defamation case.
Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has implored the UK Prime Minister to address the situation, deeming Trump's legal challenge against the BBC "unacceptable" and urging Keir Starmer to protect the broadcaster and its license payers from potential financial repercussions.