Former BBC director-general Lord Tony Hall says the network should reject any possibility of paying President Donald Trump as the corporation faces a potential multibillion-dollar lawsuit over an edited documentary segment involving Trump’s Jan. 6, 2021, remarks.
According to Fox News, Hall, speaking in an interview with the BBC on Sunday, said the broadcaster must protect public funds.
“I don’t think we should agree to any money being paid to Donald Trump. You’re talking about license fee payers’ money, you’re talking about public money. It would not be appropriate,” he said.
President Donald Trump announced Friday he planned to sue the BBC for up to $5 billion. At issue is a “BBC Panorama” documentary that critics say misrepresented his Jan. 6 speech by editing out a line urging supporters to protest “peacefully” and stitching together comments made nearly an hour apart to appear continuous. A similar edit surfaced on the BBC’s “Newsnight” program in 2022.
The controversy triggered sharp backlash, prompting the BBC to issue an apology to Trump last week.
“Lawyers for the BBC have written to President Trump’s legal team in response to a letter received on Sunday,” a BBC spokesperson said. “BBC chair Samir Shah has separately sent a personal letter to the White House making clear to President Trump that he and the corporation are sorry for the edit of the president’s speech on 6 January 2021, which featured in the programme.”
The spokesperson emphasized the network has “no plans” to rebroadcast the disputed documentary. The BBC also said that while it regrets the way the program was edited, “we strongly disagree there is a basis for a defamation claim.”
The apology has not dissuaded Trump, who spoke to reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday about his plans to move ahead with legal action.
“I think I have to do it. They’ve even admitted that they cheated … They changed the words coming out of my mouth. The people of the UK are very angry about what happened,” Trump said.
Hall’s comments underscore the delicate position the BBC now faces: acknowledging an editorial error while insisting it does not amount to defamation — all as one of the world’s largest public broadcasters navigates pressure from both the former U.S. president and its own critics.
The dispute appears far from over, with Trump signaling he is prepared for a lengthy fight and the BBC maintaining its stance against paying damages.
