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BBC Chairman Sameer Shah Said the broadcaster is “determined to fight”. donald trump after The US President said he would sue the corporation for between $1 billion and $5 billion Above Editing of the 2021 speech broadcast by Panorama.
it was said that sir keir starmer Was planning to call Mr. Trump over the weekend where he will tell the President that BBC had to get its house in order, as well as defend the broadcaster as a British institution – but it is understood the call did not go through.
In an email to staff, Mr Shah said the “defamation case has no basis”.
“Much is being written, said and speculated about the possibility of legal action, including potential costs or settlements,” he said.
“In all this we are, of course, fully aware of the privilege of our funding and the need to protect our license fee payers, the British public.
“I want to be absolutely clear with you – our position has not changed. The defamation case has no merit and we remain committed to fighting it.”
Asked about the legal threats, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “I think we’re very clear that this is a matter BBCWhose lawyers are now dealing with it.
“We are not going to comment on an ongoing legal matter. The BBC is independent of the UK government. That is a matter for them and the US administration.”
It came as the US President told reporters on Air Force One on Saturday that the Prime Minister was “very embarrassed” by the scandal and had already tried to “call me” about it.
Mr Trump said he would sue the corporation for “between a billion dollars (£759.8m) and five billion dollars (£3.79bn), probably sometime next week”.
His comments followed a BBC apology on Thursday in which it said editing of Mr Trump’s speech on 6 January 2021 had “given the false impression that President Trump had made a direct call for violent action”.
The broadcaster apologized and said that singling out the speech was an “error of judgment”, but the US President’s lawyers threatened to sue for a billion dollars in damages unless a retraction and apology were published, after which he refused to pay financial compensation.
On Saturday, a BBC spokesperson said: “We have had no contact with President Trump’s lawyers at this time. Our position remains the same.”
In an interview with GB News broadcast on Saturday, Mr Trump said he had an “obligation” to sue the BBC, adding: “It was very serious. If you don’t do it, you can’t stop it happening again to other people.”
A BBC spokesman said that on Thursday, Mr Shah sent a personal letter to the White House to apologize for the edit and that the corporation’s lawyers had written to the president’s legal team.
The spokesperson said: “While the BBC deeply regrets the way the video clip was edited, we strongly disagree that there is a basis for a defamation claim.”
panorama The scandal led to the resignations of two of the BBC’s most senior executives: Director General Tim Davie and Head of News Deborah Ternes.
The programme, broadcast a week before the 2024 US election results, featured two clips stitched together to show Mr Trump telling the crowd: “We’re walking to the Capitol… and I’ll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell.”
The BBC has said it is planning the Panorama episode Trump: A Second Chance? Will not broadcast. again, and published a retraction on the show’s webpage on Thursday.