News | International
9 Dec 2025 14:45
NZCity News
NZCity CalculatorReturn to NZCity

  • Start Page
  • Personalise
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • Finance
  • Shopping
  • Jobs
  • Horoscopes
  • Lotto Results
  • Photo Gallery
  • Site Gallery
  • TVNow
  • Dating
  • SearchNZ
  • NZSearch
  • Crime.co.nz
  • RugbyLeague
  • Make Home
  • About NZCity
  • Contact NZCity
  • Your Privacy
  • Advertising
  • Login
  • Join for Free

  •   Home > News > International

    BBC apologises to Donald Trump over documentary edit, rejects compensation claim

    The BBC tells the US president it is sorry for a Panorama episode that spliced parts of a speech he gave on January 6, 2021, but says it won't meet his demands for compensation.


    The BBC has apologised to US President Donald Trump for a Panorama episode that spliced together parts of a speech he gave on January 6, 2021, but rejected his demands for compensation.

    The corporation also said it would not show the programme again.

    Lawyers for Mr Trump threatened to sue the BBC for $US1 billion ($1.5 billion) in damages unless the corporation issued a retraction, apologised and compensated him.

    The BBC's legal team has responded to Mr Trump's lawyers and its chair, Samir Shah, has personally written to the US president to apologise.

    "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 BBC wrote in a retraction.

    The BBC has reported Mr Shah's letter to the White House made it clear to the US president that "he and the corporation are sorry for the edit of the president's speech on 6 January 2021".

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

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

    The fallout from the scandal led to the resignations of BBC director general Tim Davie and head of news Deborah Turness.

    The dispute was started by an edition of the BBC's flagship current affairs series Panorama, titled "Trump: A Second Chance?" and broadcast days before the 2024 US presidential election.

    The third-party production company that made the film joined three quotes from two sections of the 2021 speech, delivered almost an hour apart, into what appeared to be one quote of Mr Trump urging supporters to march with him to the US Capitol and "fight like hell".

    Among the parts cut was a section in which Mr Trump said he wanted supporters to demonstrate peacefully.

    Mr Davie and Ms Turness resigned on Sunday, local time, saying the scandal was damaging the BBC.

    Mr Trump, a frequent critic of media outlets that interrogate his administration and personal affairs, described the BBC as "a terrible thing for democracy" and accused it of having "corrupt journalists".

    The letter from Mr Trump's lawyer demanded an apology to the president and a "full and fair" retraction of the documentary along with other "false, defamatory, disparaging, misleading or inflammatory statements" about him.

    It also said the US president should be "appropriately" compensated for "overwhelming financial and reputational harm".

    Legal experts have said that Mr Trump would face challenges taking the case to court, but could use the mistake to try leverage a payout.

    Pressure on the broadcaster's top executives has been growing since The Daily Telegraph newspaper in the UK published parts of a dossier compiled by Michael Prescott who had been hired to advise the BBC on standards and guidelines.

    As well as the Trump edit, the dossier criticised the BBC's coverage of transgender issues and raised concerns of anti-Israeli bias in the BBC's Arabic service.

    The BBC faces greater scrutiny than other broadcasters — and criticism from its commercial rivals — because of its status as a national institution funded through an annual licence fee of $354 paid by all households with a television.

    ABC/AP

    © 2025 ABC Australian Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved

     Other International News
     09 Dec: Why Kate chose to 'stay flat' after breast cancer surgery
     09 Dec: Jakara Anthony, Matt Graham claim FIS moguls gold in Ruka, two months out from Winter Olympics
     09 Dec: Some Israeli-backed anti-Hamas gang members surrender to group
     09 Dec: Jacob Elordi, Rose Byrne and Joel Edgerton score Golden Globes nominations
     08 Dec: Trump hosts Kennedy Center Honors in historic first
     08 Dec: Should you go screen-free after giving birth? These mums share their stories
     08 Dec: Oscar Piastri praised as future formula 1 world champion by rivals
     Top Stories

    RUGBY RUGBY
    New Zealand Rugby admits its in the dark as to what standard of French side will tour for the first All Blacks test at Christchurch's new stadium More...


    BUSINESS BUSINESS
    The Resource Management Act is officially bound for the scrapheap More...



     Today's News

    Entertainment:
    Paul Walker's daughter has pledged to love him "forever" 14:20

    National:
    Caregiver smartphone use can affect a baby’s development. New parents should get more guidance 14:07

    Motoring:
    Hayden Paddon isn't aiming for the podium in his World Rally Championship return 14:07

    Entertainment:
    Francis Ford Coppola finds Botox "scary" 13:50

    Business:
    The Resource Management Act is officially bound for the scrapheap 13:47

    Law and Order:
    Police believe the man allegedly responsible for two East Auckland bus attacks is still armed - after one passenger was killed and another seriously injured 13:27

    Business:
    The Government's about to unveil its re-write of the Resource Management Act 13:27

    Entertainment:
    Rosalia "struggles so much" with loneliness 13:20

    International:
    Why Kate chose to 'stay flat' after breast cancer surgery 13:17

    Cricket:
    England's second-highest test wicket taker reckons the current team hit a near two-decade low in one key area in falling to a 2-nil deficit in the Ashes cricket series 13:07


     News Search






    Power Search


    © 2025 New Zealand City Ltd