Washington DC [US], November 15: The British Broadcasting Corporation sent a personal apology to U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday but said there was no legal basis for him to sue the public broadcaster over a documentary his lawyers called defamatory.
The documentary, which aired on the BBC's "Panorama" news programme just before the U.S. presidential election in 2024, spliced together three parts of Trump's speech on January 6, 2021, when his supporters stormed the Capitol. The edit created the impression he had called for violence.
Lawyers for the U.S. president threatened on Sunday to sue the BBC for damages of up to $1 billion unless it withdrew the documentary, apologised to the president and compensated him for "financial and reputational harm."
By asserting that Trump's defamation case lacks merit, the BBC effectively signaled that it believes his claim for financial damages is equally untenable. But the broadcaster did not directly address Trump's financial demand.
In its statement, the BBC said Chair Samir Shah on Thursday "sent a personal letter to the White House making clear that he and the corporation were sorry for the edit." Shah earlier in the week apologised to a British parliamentary oversight committee and said the edit was "an error of judgement."
British culture minister Lisa Nandy said on Friday it was right that the BBC had apologised to Trump.
In its statement on Thursday, the BBC added that it has no plans to rebroadcast the documentary on any of its platforms.
Earlier on Thursday, the BBC said it was looking into fresh allegations, published in The Telegraph newspaper, over the editing by another of its programmes, "Newsnight," of the same speech.
Source: Fijian Broadcasting Corporation
