Donald Trump has signaled a $5 billion lawsuit against the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), aiming to hold the organization accountable for what he describes as “false, defamatory, disparaging and inflammatory statements.”
The BBC is facing major criticism regarding a BBC “Panorama” program about Trump’s Jan. 6, 2021, address ahead of the U.S. Capitol riot. Critics argue the program was deceptive because it left out Trump’s urging of supporters to protest without violence.
The New York Times described the situation as “one of the worst crises in its 103-year history” for the BBC. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chair Brendan Carr is examining the matter, and two executives have resigned from the BBC because of the controversy.
TRUMP PLANS TO SUE BBC FOR UP TO $5 BILLION OVER EDITED JAN 6 SPEECH PROGRAM
The issue started with a shocking report from The Telegraph that included parts of a whistleblower document put together by Michael Prescott, a communications advisor hired by the BBC to assess its editorial standards.
The whistleblower claimed that a BBC “Panorama” program from last year featured a deceptive edit of remarks Trump made during his Jan. 6, 2021, rally protesting the results of the 2020 election.
The program, “Trump: A Second Chance?,” did not include Trump telling his supporters to protest “peacefully” and instead combined two different remarks made almost an hour apart, giving the impression he was encouraging violence.
“We’re gonna walk down to the Capitol. And I’ll be there with you. And we fight — we fight like hell,” the program showed Trump saying.
In reality, Trump stated, “We’re gonna walk down to the Capitol. And we’re gonna cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women, and we’re probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them because you’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength, and you have to be strong.” It was 54 minutes later that Trump told his supporters to “fight like hell” to protect election integrity.
BBC APOLOGIZES TO TRUMP AMID $1 BILLION LEGAL THREAT
The error resulted in the resignations of BBC News CEO Deborah Turness and BBC Director-General Tim Davie.
“I resigned over the weekend because I am responsible. But I want to make it clear that BBC News is not biased,” Turness told reporters outside the BBC headquarters.
Trump’s legal team sent the BBC a legal threat, demanding a complete retraction and an apology, along with financial compensation. The BBC did apologize and said it would not show the program again but did not fully meet Trump’s demands.
“Lawyers for the BBC have responded to President Trump’s legal team to a letter they received on Sunday,” a BBC spokesperson stated earlier this month. “BBC chair Samir Shah has also sent a personal letter to the White House, making it clear to President Trump that he and the BBC are sorry for the edit of the president’s speech on 6 January 2021, which was in the program.”
However, the BBC concluded there was no basis for the defamation claim.
“There is a lot being written, said and speculated upon about the possibility of legal action, including potential costs or settlements. In all this we are, of course, acutely aware of the privilege of our funding and the need to protect our licence fee payers, the British public. I want to be very clear with you — our position has not changed,” BBC Chair Samir Shah wrote in a memo to staffers that Fox News Digital obtained.
“There is no basis for a defamation case and we are determined to fight this. Last week I spoke with the Executive team and am reassured they are focused on ensuring the BBC continues to deliver for audiences and staff,” Shah added. “I know they plan to spend as much time as possible with their teams over the coming weeks to reinforce the importance of that work and answer your question.”
Trump told reporters on Air Force One last Friday that he was planning to take legal action.
“We’ll sue them for anywhere between a billion and $5 billion probably sometime next week,” Trump stated.
BBC CHAIR TELLS STAFFERS IT’S READY TO FIGHT TRUMP LAWSUIT, SAYS THERE’S NO BASIS FOR DEFAMATION CLAIM
Trump’s legal threat against the BBC comes after a number of recent legal wins over media and tech firms. The former president has received large settlements from CBS, ABC, and Meta in the past year.
In July, Paramount Global and CBS agreed to pay $16 million upfront to settle the president’s lawsuit against the network over how “60 Minutes” edited and released an interview with then-Democratic rival Kamala Harris in 2024. Trump’s team, which initially wanted $10 billion, claimed the network’s edited clips from a single response about Israel was “election interference.”
That win followed ABC’s apology and $16 million settlement with Trump last December after he sued for defamation over “This Week” anchor George Stephanopoulos’ claims on the air that the president had been held “liable for rape.” The jury in the E. Jean Carroll case he was referring to had actually ruled he was liable for “sexual abuse.”
Additionally, Trump’s team has won nearly $60 million in settlements from X, Meta and Alphabet-owned YouTube this year over his prior account suspensions by the tech companies after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
Fox News legal analyst Gregg Jarrett believes Trump could be entitled to “considerable” damages from the BBC if he sues the outlet.
“It’s hard to put a value on it right now, but it’s considerable,” Jarrett said Monday on “Fox & Friends.”
CLICK HERE FOR MORE MEDIA AND CULTURE COVERAGE
“Two top executives resigned in disgrace when they removed the slander,” he added. “[It’s] a clear case of what I think is defamation.”
Jarrett noted, “They deleted his warning to act peacefully, and then they combined the video to give the opposite impression, which is almost certainly defamatory.”
Former U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss supported Trump’s lawsuit, saying, “They’ve lied, they’ve cheated, they’ve fiddled with footage.”
Fox News Digital’s David Rutz and Taylor Penley helped with this report.
