Washington: US President Donald Trump has filed a defamation lawsuit against the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), accusing the broadcaster of airing an edited clip of his January 6 speech that allegedly damaged his reputation.
According to reports, President Trump has lodged the lawsuit in Florida, seeking $5 billion in damages over the broadcast of what he claims was a misleadingly edited version of his address. Trump contended that the BBC presented his remarks out of context, resulting in serious harm to his public standing.
The US president also warned the British broadcaster of further legal action, previously threatening to seek up to $1 billion in damages over the matter.
The controversy stems from a BBC documentary in which segments of Trump’s January 6 speech were edited together to give the impression that he directly instructed his supporters to march toward the US Capitol and engage in confrontation.
Trump maintains that the quoted remarks were delivered nearly an hour apart and were not intended to incite violence.
The BBC has since acknowledged the error and issued an apology, admitting that different portions of the January 6, 2021 speech were combined in a manner that created a misleading impression that Trump had explicitly called for violence.
Following the incident, BBC Director General Tim Davie and BBC News Chief Deborah Turness have reportedly resigned over the editorial lapse.
