Trump sues BBC over edited Jan. 6 speech clip; seeks $10 billion

President Donald Trump has filed a defamation lawsuit against the BBC and two BBC Studios entities over an edited clip of his January 6, 2021, speech that appeared in a Panorama documentary, according to a federal court complaint. The lawsuit seeks a total of at least $10 billion in damages.

The lawsuit was filed on Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida’s Miami Division, according to the complaint.

Trump, through his attorneys, sued the British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC Studios Distribution Limited, and BBC Studios Productions Limited over the documentary “Trump: A Second Chance,” which the complaint says first aired on October 28, 2024.

The complaint alleges the program falsely depicted Trump as delivering a combined sequence of remarks: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol and I’ll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell…,” and states that he never uttered that sequence of words.

According to the filing, the documentary spliced together excerpts from two different points in Trump’s speech, remarks delivered at 12:12 p.m. and 1:07 p.m. Eastern time, while omitting his statement about marching to the Capitol “to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard,” which the complaint says came less than a minute after the earlier excerpt.

The lawsuit cites a letter it says was sent by BBC Chair Samir Shah apologizing for the edit and stating that “the way the speech was edited in the documentary gave a misleading impression of what you said.”

The complaint also references a BBC “Corrections and Clarifications” entry stating that the edit “unintentionally created the impression” the documentary was showing “a single continuous section of the speech,” adding, “The BBC would like to apologise to President Trump for that error of judgment.”

According to the filing, Trump’s counsel sent a demand letter on November 9 seeking a retraction, an apology, and compensation. The BBC’s lawyers responded on November 13, indicating the broadcaster would apologize but would not pay damages.

Trump’s lawsuit includes a defamation claim seeking at least $5 billion in damages and a separate claim alleging a violation of Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act seeking an additional $5 billion, according to the complaint.

The lawsuit follows the resignations of BBC Director-General Tim Davie and BBC News Chief Executive Deborah Turness, who stepped down amid mounting criticism over the documentary. Both acknowledged that editorial mistakes had occurred in connection with the program, while denying accusations of political bias, according to previous statements from the broadcaster.