BBC apologises to Trump for Panorama edit yet refuses to pay compensation

'We strongly disagree that there is a basis for a defamation claim'

The broadcaster claimed the edit had given "the mistaken impression that President Trump had made a direct call for violent action" and said it would not show the 2024 programme again, per The BBC.

Trump's lawyers have threatened to sue the corporation for $1bn (£759m) in damages if the corporation does not issue a retraction, apologise and compensate him.

The scandal eventually led to the resignations of BBC director general Tim Davie and head of News Deborah Turness on Sunday.

The apology follows a second similarly edited clip, which was broadcast on Newsnight in 2022, as revealed by the Daily Telegraph.

In a Corrections and Clarifications notice released yesterday evening (Thursday 13 November), the BBC stated that the Panorama episode had been reviewed following criticism of the editing of President Trump’s speech.

The national broadcaster had been given a deadline of 22:00 GMT (17:00 EST) on Friday to respond.

"We accept that our edit unintentionally created the impression that we were showing a single continuous section of the speech, rather than excerpts from different points in the speech, and that this gave the mistaken impression that President Trump had made a direct call for violent action," the statement said.

According to a BBC spokesperson, lawyers for the BBC have written to President Trump's legal team in response to a letter received on Sunday.

The spokesperson said: "BBC chair Samir Shah has separately sent a personal letter to the White House making clear to President Trump that he and the corporation are sorry for the edit of the president's speech on 6 January 2021, which featured in the programme.

"While the BBC sincerely regrets the manner in which the video clip was edited, we strongly disagree that there is a basis for a defamation claim."

Speaking to Fox News this week, Trump claimed his speech had been "butchered" and the way it was presented had "defrauded" viewers.

"I think I have an obligation to do it, you can't allow people to do that."

A legal letter from Trump's lawyer, Alejandro Brito, demanded that "false, defamatory, disparaging and inflammatory statements" made about Trump be retracted, effective immediately.

The letter went on to add that if the BBC "does not comply", Trump will be "left with no alternative but to enforce his legal and equitable rights, all of which are expressly reserved and are not waived, including by filing legal action for no less than 1,000,000,000 dollars in damages," per Sky News.

However, the president's legal team said yesterday evening that Trump has not yet filed a lawsuit against the BBC.