US President Donald Trump has filed a $10 billion defamation case against the BBC, accusing the media outlet of causing personal harm and tarnishing his image via a doctored video of his January 6, 2021, speech.
The 46-page lawsuit, filed in federal court in Miami, claims the selective editing created the false impression that he directly incited the Capitol riot. While BBC directors have already resigned and the organisation apologised to the US president, the case seems to have taken a new turn with Trump filing a lawsuit against the organisation.
Trump said, “They had me saying things that I never said… They actually put terrible words in my mouth.” BBC Chairman Samir Shah wrote directly to Trump to express “sincere regret” and pledged not to rebroadcast the segment.
Trump had also accused the BBC of running a counter-narrative to influence voters with the alleged documentary section, which aired just a week before last year’s presidential election. The lawsuit further denounced it as “a brazen attempt to interfere in and influence the Election’s outcome to President Trump’s detriment.”
Trump demands $5 billion in damages for defamation and an additional $5 billion under Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. His legal team described the broadcaster’s conduct as malicious, arguing that the selective editing “could never have occurred by accident” and fitted a “long pattern” of biased coverage.
A spokesperson said the BBC has “a long pattern of deceiving its audience in coverage of President Trump, all in service of its own leftist political agenda.” The BBC has said it “strongly disagrees” that there is a basis for a defamation claim.
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