US President Donald Trump has filed a $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the BBC in Florida, alleging the broadcaster deceptively edited his January 6, 2021 speech in a Panorama documentary. The 33-page lawsuit claims the program aired a «false, defamatory, deceptive, disparaging, inflammatory, and malicious depiction of President Trump» and constituted «a brazen attempt to interfere in and influence» the 2024 presidential election.
Trump seeks $5 billion for defamation and another $5 billion for alleged violations of Florida's trade practices law. The lawsuit targets the BBC, BBC Studios Distribution, and BBC Studios Production.
The Editing Controversy
The Panorama episode, which aired in October shortly before the US election, allegedly spliced together separate segments of Trump's speech delivered nearly an hour apart. The edited version showed Trump saying: «We're going to walk down to the Capitol... and I'll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell.»
Trump announced the lawsuit at a Washington press conference on Monday afternoon: «In a little while, you'll be seeing I'm suing the BBC for putting words in my mouth literally. They had me saying things that I never said.»
The lawsuit argues the editing «intentionally misrepresent the meaning of what President Trump said» by conflating distinct parts of his address to create a misleading narrative.
BBC Apologizes But Rejects Claim
BBC chairman Samir Shah apologized for an «error of judgment» in the documentary's editing, acknowledging it gave «the impression of a direct call for violent action.» The broadcaster maintains there is no basis for a defamation claim and has stated it will fight the lawsuit.
The controversy triggered major upheaval at the BBC. Director-general Tim Davie and head of news Deborah Turness both resigned following the fallout from a leaked internal memo by Michael Prescott, a former external adviser to the BBC's editorial standards committee, which first raised concerns about the editing.
Legal Hurdles Ahead
Media lawyer Mark Stephens told BBC Breakfast that Trump faces «more than a few legal tripwires between President Trump and a legal victory against the BBC.» He cited significant procedural challenges, including questions about US court jurisdiction since Panorama was not broadcast in the United States and BBC iPlayer is unavailable there.
The program is accessible on the BritBox subscription streaming platform. Trump's legal team claims «millions of Florida citizens use a virtual private network (VPN) to view content such as the Panorama documentary.»
Stephens also questioned whether Trump could prove additional harm to his reputation, noting he has already been subject to «nine judicial findings, some congressional hearings, global coverage of January 6» and faces ongoing civil lawsuits and a special counsel report. «Proving that Panorama caused additional serious harm is a bit of a stretch,» Stephens said.
Trump has a history of pursuing legal action against news organizations and is currently engaged in litigation with the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.
Note: This article was created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
