The BBC will issue a formal and direct apology to Donald Trump after he threatened to sue the corporation for $1bn over the doctoring of his speech, it is understood.
Director-General Tim Davie dramatically resigned on Sunday alongside CEO of News Deobrah Turness following criticism viewers had been misled.
The departure prompted praise from Mr Trump who described Mr Davie as ‘very honest’ and lamented the editing of his ‘very good (perfect!) speech’.
It has now emerged the BBC is ready to apologise to the US President, with its lawyers working in the background on the wording of their response, according to The Times.
It comes after senior news executives addressed staff yesterday but said they were unable to comment on the Panorama broadcast, for legal reasons.
There has been mounting pressure on the BBC in the-run up to Mr Trump’s Friday deadline to apologise, issue a retraction, and compensate him ‘for the harm caused’.
A letter sent to BBC Chairman Samir Shah at Television Centre by his legal team in Florida said: ‘President Trump will be left with no alternative but to enforce his legal and equitable rights, all of which are expressly reserved and are not waived, including by filing legal action for no less than $1,000,000,000 (One Billion Dollars) in damages.
In a scathing letter, the President’s lawyers demanded by Friday night a full retraction, immediate apology and an offer of compensation from the BBC over the ‘fabricated depiction’ of Donald Trump on Panorama
Director-general Tim Davie quit the BBC on Sunday after five years in the corporation’s top job
‘Due to their salacious nature, the fabricated statements that were aired by the BBC have been widely disseminated throughout various digital mediums, which have reached tens of millions of people worldwide.
‘Consequently, the BBC has caused President Trump to suffer overwhelming financial and reputational harm.’
The letter from Mr Trump’s lawyer, Alejandro Brito, added: ‘The BBC is on notice.’
Mr Brito said then went on to list the President’s three demands.
The BBC said earlier this week it would ‘review the letter and respond directly in due course’.
It comes amid an ongoing civil war at the BBC, with insiders saying some senior BBC News staff are in conflict with the board. Nick Robinson used the Today Programme to deliver a monologue in which he described the governors as being in a state of ‘paralysis’.
Sir Keir Starmer also backed the BBC. His spokesman said the Prime Minister does not believe it is ‘institutionally biased’.
But Nigel Farage said he had spoken to Mr Trump, who is ‘absolutely enraged’. The Reform UK leader accused the ‘biased’ BBC of ‘election interference’.
On Wednesday night, Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, described the BBC as a ‘Leftist propaganda machine’.
BBC chairman Samir Shah (above) admitted to an ‘error of judgment’ over the editing but rejected claims of systemic bias and stopped short of issuing a direct apology to Mr Trump
A memo by former editorial advisor Michael Prescott leaked last week raised concerns over the doctoring of Mr Trump’s speech, and the BBC’s coverage of trans issues and Gaza.
The splicing of several clips together made it appear that Mr Trump had told supporters he was going to walk to the US Capitol with them to ‘fight like hell’.
Mr Shah said there have been more than 500 complaints since the leaked memo was published, adding: ‘We accept that the way the speech was edited did give the impression of a direct call for violent action.’
However, the chairman attacked the author of the critical dossier, accusing Mr Prescott of giving a ‘personal account’ that gave only a ‘partial’ view of events.
On Tuesday Mr Davie insisted the BBC was a ‘unique and precious organisation’, adding: ‘I think we’ve got to fight for our journalism. I’m really proud of our work and the amazing work locally, globally, that we’re doing is utterly precious.
‘I’m fiercely proud of this organisation. There are difficult times it goes through, but it just does good work.’ He added: ‘We are the very best of what I think we should be as a society, and that will never change.’
The director-general will stay in his post until a successor is found. He said it had been a ‘tough few days’ since he announced his resignation alongside Ms Turness.
