The BBC’s chairman vowed Monday to fight a billion-dollar lawsuit which US President Donald Trump has threatened to bring against the British broadcaster for defamation.
“I want to be very clear with you — our position has not changed. There is no basis for a defamation case, and we are determined to fight this,” Samir Shah said in a message to staff, amid a row caused by a BBC programme that misleadingly edited a Trump speech.
Trump said on Friday he would sue the BBC for up to $5 billion, after the British broadcaster apologised but said it would not pay damages for the misleading edit.
The broadcaster has rejected Trump’s legal defamation claim, but the president appears determined not to let the matter rest, even after the departure of top BBC executives and as the controversy threatens to strain ties with London.
“We’ll sue them for anywhere between a billion and five billion dollars, probably sometime next week. I think I have to do it. They’ve even admitted that they cheated,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.
The BBC apologised last week for giving the impression in a documentary that Trump had directly urged “violent action” just before the assault on the US Capitol by his supporters on January 6, 2021.
The issue has triggered wide debate in the UK, and Shah said “we are, of course, acutely aware of the privilege of our funding and the need to protect our licence fee payers, the British public”.
The broadcaster has been in turmoil since the edited clip from its flagship news program “Panorama” — aired before the 2024 presidential elections — resurfaced
AFP
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