BBC apologises to Donald Trump for Panorama documentary editing but refuses to pay $1bn compensation demand

The BBC has apologised to Donald Trump for the editing of the Panorama doc at the centre of the scandal engulfing the corporation, but has refused to pay compensation to the US president.

Earlier this week, lawyers for Trump threatened to sue the BBC for $1bn unless it apologised and paid him compensation for the offending film Trump: A Second Chance? which featured an edited version of his 6 January 2021 speech.

Chair Samir Shah wrote to the White House to apologise and confirmed the BBC has no plans to rebroadcast the film, which aired in October 2024.

A BBC spokesperson said this evening: “Lawyers for the BBC have written to President Trump’s legal team in response to a letter 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 BBC has no plans to rebroadcast the documentary ‘Trump: A Second Chance?’ on any BBC platforms.

“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.”

Days ago, Trump’s lawyer, Alejandro Brito, wrote to Shah and BBC lawyer Sarah Jones accusing the corporation of making “false, defamatory, disparaging and inflammatory statements” and “overwhelming reputational and financial harm” to the US president.

He called for a “full and fair” retraction of the Panorama programme, giving the BBC until Friday at 5pm ET to respond.

Broadcast revealed yesterday that the Panorama, which was a key part of a leaked dossier by former editorial standards advisor Michael Prescott that led to the resignations of the director general and news chief at the weekend, was effectively a BBC current affairs co-production despite being produced under the banner of October Films.

It is thought that neither of the execs nor the editor of Panorama Karen Wightman were made aware of the way in which two separate parts of Trump’s speech had been edited together in the film, which was complied and legalled by the BBC, as standard.