President Donald Trump is suing the BBC for $10 billion over a documentary that edited his Jan. 6, 2021, speech at the Capitol Ellipse. The lawsuit claims the broadcast removed portions of his remarks in which he urged supporters to protest the 2020 election results peacefully.
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Details of the lawsuit
Filed in Miami, the lawsuit alleges that the BBC defamed it and violated Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, seeking $5 billion in damages for each claim.
“The formerly respected and now disgraced BBC defamed President Trump by intentionally, maliciously and deceptively doctoring his speech in a brazen attempt to interfere in the 2024 presidential election,” Trump’s legal team said in a statement.
Speaking Monday, Trump said, “I’m suing the BBC for putting words in my mouth, literally. They put words in my mouth. They had me saying things that I never said, coming out. I guess they used AI or something.”
BBC will defend itself
In response to the lawsuit, a BBC attorney said the network had “no intention of misleading anyone” and argued it cannot be proven the BBC acted with “actual malice,” a key requirement in defamation cases involving public figures in the U.S.
The lawyer also said Trump cannot sue the BBC in Florida because the documentary was not aired in the United States or made available on the BBC’s American website.
A BBC spokesperson said, “As we have made clear previously, we will be defending this case.”
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Last month’s threat
Last month, Trump’s attorneys sent the BBC a demand letter calling for the network to retract what they described as “false, defamatory, disparaging, and inflammatory statements” or face a lawsuit seeking $1 billion in damages. The letter also demanded a personal apology to the president.
BBC Chair Samir Shah sent a personal letter to the White House apologizing for what he described as improper editing of the clip and said the network had “no plans” to rebroadcast it. The BBC, however, refused to pay the requested compensation, saying it “strongly disagree[s]” that the documentary meets the legal standard for defamation.
