BBC Apologises to Trump but Says No Defamation Case

The BBC has issued an apology after acknowledging that an edited segment of former US President Donald Trump’s speech created a misleading impression in a Panorama documentary.

The public broadcaster confirmed it had contacted the White House, while its chair, Samir Shah, sent a personal letter to President Trump expressing regret over the edit.

The apology came shortly after the Daily Telegraph revealed a second instance of similar editing in a 2022 Newsnight broadcast.

In a statement published in its Corrections and Clarifications section on Thursday evening, the BBC said the Panorama episode had been reevaluated following criticism of how Trump’s remarks were portrayed.

“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 broadcaster said.

A BBC spokesperson confirmed that the corporation’s lawyers had responded to a letter from Trump’s legal team, received on Sunday.

“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,” the spokesperson added.

While expressing regret for the way the footage was edited, the BBC maintained that there is “no basis for a defamation claim.” Agencies