The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) will reportedly file a motion to dismiss President Donald Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit over the 2024 “Panorama” documentary that distorted his Jan. 6 remarks.
Trump is suing the BBC for $10 billion total—$5 billion for defamation and $5 billion for allegedly violating Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida and was brought by Trump in his personal capacity. The defendants named in the complaint include the BBC and BBC Studios Productions.
The BBC does not believe the court has jurisdiction and that Trump wasn’t damaged by the documentary. Trump’s legal team isn’t backing down despite the BBC’s efforts to get the case dismissed.
“This defamation case arises out of a documentary that Defendants the British Broadcasting Corporation (“the BBC”), BBC Studios Distribution Ltd., and BBC Studios Productions Ltd. did not create in Florida, produce in Florida, or air in Florida,” the court filing states.
“The BBC is liable to President Trump for intentionally and maliciously defaming him by distorting and manipulating his speech. No amount of attempted legal maneuvers can change that fact. President Trump will continue to hold accountable the BBC and all those who traffic in fake news,” a spokesman for Trump’s legal team told Fox News Digital.
The lawsuit stems from controversy surrounding a BBC “Panorama” documentary focused on Trump’s Jan. 6, 2021 speech, delivered shortly before unrest at the U.S. Capitol. Critics say the program presented a misleading narrative by omitting Trump’s call for supporters to protest peacefully.
The lawsuit states: “The BBC, faced with overwhelming and justifiable outrage on both sides of the Atlantic, has publicly admitted its staggering breach of journalistic ethics, and apologized, but has made no showing of actual remorse for its wrongdoing nor meaningful institutional changes to prevent future journalistic abuses.”
The BBC previously issued an apology for the erroneous edit and said it had pulled the program from its platforms, but a spokesperson for the broadcaster added, “While the BBC sincerely regrets the manner in which the video clip was edited, we strongly disagree there is a basis for a defamation claim.”
The controversy intensified after a report from The Telegraph, which cited excerpts from a whistleblower dossier compiled by Michael Prescott, a communications adviser hired by the BBC to review its editorial standards.
The whistleblower alleged the BBC’s documentary used a misleading edit of Trump’s remarks from the Jan. 6 rally, where Trump repeated unsubstantiated claims that the 2020 election was stolen. The documentary reportedly omitted Trump urging supporters to protest “peacefully” and instead spliced comments delivered nearly an hour apart—an edit critics say portrayed Trump as directly calling for violence.
“We’re gonna walk down to the Capitol. And I’ll be there with you. And we fight — we fight like hell,” the documentary showed Trump saying.
In full context, Trump said, “We’re gonna walk down to the Capitol. And we’re gonna cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women, and we’re probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them because you’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength, and you have to be strong.” The “fight like hell” line came later, roughly 54 minutes afterward, as Trump urged supporters to press for election integrity.
The New York Times described the fallout as “one of the worst crises in its 103-year history” of the BBC. The scandal also reportedly led to the resignations of BBC News CEO Deborah Turness and BBC Director-General Tim Davie.
A court filing outlining the BBC’s plans to file a motion to dismiss suggests that Trump didn’t prove actual damages because he won reelection after the documentary aired. The document also argues that the documentary was not created in Florida, and it was not easily accessible in Florida, creating a “lack of personal jurisdiction.”
A court filing outlining the BBC’s plan to seek dismissal argues Trump failed to show actual damages, pointing to the fact that he won reelection after the documentary aired. The filing also argues the documentary was not created in Florida and was not easily accessible in the state, resulting in a “lack of personal jurisdiction.”
The case is expected to move forward in the coming weeks as the BBC formally files its motion to dismiss and Trump’s attorneys continue to press their claims in federal court.
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Keep the lawsuit going!
The BBC is just another fake news outlet mush like many of American news outlets