BBC Chair Samir Shah has apologised for an “error of judgement” over the editing for a documentary of a Donald Trump speech.
Donald Trump‘s fury over the editing of one of his speeches made for a Panorama documentary aired by the BBC hasn’t been quashed by the resignation of Tim Davie. In fact, the US President has threatened legal action against the broadcaster, it emerged on Monday.
The BBC confirmed it had received the letter and will “respond in due course”, BBC News reports. Mr Trump’s legal team gave the broadcaster a deadline set for 5pm EST (10pm in the UK) on Friday, November 14, to “comply” with his demands. In a letter sent on Sunday and seen by NBC News, the team added: “President Trump will be left with no alternative but to enforce his legal and equitable rights, all of which are expressly reserved and are not waived, including by filing legal action for no less than $1,000,000,000 (One Billion Dollars) in damages. The BBC is on notice.” This major new development comes after BBC Chair Samir Shah has apologised for what he called an “error of judgement” over the editing blunder. Mr Shah wrote in a letter to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee: “Since the publication of Mr Prescott’s memo, this issue has led to over 500 complaints. These are now being dealt with in the normal way. It has also prompted further reflection by the BBC.
Donald Trump has threatened legal action in a letter to the BBC (Image: Getty)
“The conclusion of that deliberation is that we accept that the way the speech was edited did give the impression of a direct call for violent action. The BBC would like to apologise for that error of judgement.”
Following public criticism over a BBC documentary that allegedly misrepresented Donald Trump‘s January 6, 2021, speech, BBC Director-General Tim Davie and BBC News Chief Deborah Turness resigned.
In response, Trump celebrated their resignations on Truth Social, calling it a win against what he referred to as “Fake News” media.
Announcing his resignation in emails to BBC staff yesterday, Davie said he was taking ultimate responsibility after “some mistakes” had been made.
Turness was approached by journalists as she arrived at Broadcasting House – the BBC’s London headquarters – this morning. “The buck stops with me,” she said, but insisted “BBC News is not institutionally biased”.
