The essence of the lawsuit is that Trump's lawyers accuse the BBC of "intentional, malicious, and misleading" editing of his statements made on the day of the Capitol riot. In his speech, Trump urged his supporters: "We will go to the Capitol and cheer on our brave senators and congressmen," and later added: "And we will fight. Fight like hell." However, in the Panorama program Trump: A Second Chance?, his words were presented in a way that created the impression that he was calling for violence.
The BBC management has not yet commented on the filing of the lawsuit. However, in November, the corporation already apologized to Trump for editing his statements, although it rejected his demands for compensation, citing a lack of grounds for defamation claims. Trump then announced his intention to file a lawsuit, claiming that the BBC "cheated" and distorted his words.
The scandal erupted after the publication of a memo by Michael Prescott, a former independent advisor to the BBC's editorial standards committee, in which he pointed out the distortion of meaning in the Panorama program.
It is worth noting that in his speech, Trump repeatedly used the word "fight," saying it 20 times. The BBC acknowledged that the editing could have created a misleading impression of his intentions.
Following this, on November 9, as a result of the scandal, Director-General Tim Davie and BBC News Director Deborah Turness resigned.
BBC lawyers, in response to Trump's lawsuit, stated that there was no intent to cause harm and pointed out that the former president won the election shortly after the film aired. The lawyers also noted that the BBC did not have rights to show the program in the U.S., as it was only available on the British streaming service iPlayer.
Trump's lawyers mention in the lawsuit an agreement between the BBC and another media company regarding the rights to distribute the film outside the UK. However, neither the BBC nor this company has yet provided comments on this matter. The lawsuit also states that residents of Florida could watch the film via VPN or on the British streaming service BritBox.
