BBC Apologizes to Trump Over Edited Jan. 6 Clip, Rejects $1 Billion Claim

Overview

• BBC confirmed it sent a personal apology from chairman Samir Shah to the White House over the 2021 speech edit and said it will not pay compensation, arguing there are no grounds for a defamation suit.
• Lawyers for President Trump demanded the programme’s removal by November 14 and threatened a $1 billion lawsuit, keeping legal action on the table.
• The Daily Telegraph reported a similar edit aired on Newsnight in June 2022, raising questions about repeated misediting and weakening claims of a one-off mistake.
• Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the corporation must get its house in order, and White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt called the BBC a leftist propaganda machine.
• Director-general Tim Davie and news chief Deborah Turness resigned on November 9, and The Times reported the search for a new director-general could stretch for months.