BBC has vowed to fight a $10bn lawsuit filed by US President Donald Trump over a Panorama documentary that he claims misrepresented his January 6, 2021 speech.
In official court papers filed in Florida, Trump claimed that the news outlet has defamed him and also broken a law regulating fair business and trade practices.
While, Trump's legal team accused the BBC of defaming him by "intentionally, maliciously, and deceptively doctoring his speech."
The BBC apologised to Trump last month for the way his speech was presented but refused to pay him any compensation and maintains that his claim of defamation is not valid.
A BBC spokesperson said in a statement, noting, "As we have made clear previously, we will be defending this case. We are not going to make further comment on ongoing legal proceedings."
Why did Trump file a lawsuit against BBC?
During his January 6, 2021 speech–given shortly before the Capitol riot–Trump first encouraged his supporters to go to the Capitol and show support for lawmakers and later, nearly an hour later in the same speech, he said, "And we fight. We fight like hell."
While, in the Panorama documentary, the BBC combined parts of Trump's speech to make it seem like he said, "We're going to walk down to the Capitol... and I'll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell."
The BBC admitted this editing could give viewers the wrong impression but said this mistake does not legally count as defaming him deliberately.
