BBC moves to dismiss Trump’s $10 billion defamation lawsuit over Panorama edit
The BBC will ask a Florida court to dismiss US President Donald Trump’s $10 billion (€8.5 billion) defamation lawsuit over a Panorama episode edit, arguing the court lacks jurisdiction, the venue is improper and the complaint fails to state a claim, according to court filings made late Monday UK time.
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The broadcaster’s motion says it neither created, produced nor broadcast the documentary in Florida and disputes Trump’s assertion that the program was available in the United States on streaming service BritBox. The corporation also asks the court to stay all discovery until the dismissal request is decided.
Central to the filing is the argument that Trump has not plausibly alleged “actual malice,” the heightened legal standard public officials must meet to pursue defamation claims in the United States. The BBC says the suit does not show the broadcaster published the program knowing it was false or with reckless disregard for the truth.
The lawsuit stems from a Panorama episode aired in 2024 that drew criticism late last year for an edit that gave the impression Trump encouraged supporters to storm the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. In the program, a portion of Trump’s speech was spliced to show him saying: “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’s motion challenges the Florida court’s personal jurisdiction over a UK-based public broadcaster and contends the chosen venue is improper. It further states that the claim about BritBox distribution in the US “is not true,” undermining the case for jurisdiction and publication in the forum.
Should the case proceed despite the dismissal bid, the filings note a 2027 trial date has been proposed. For now, the BBC seeks to pause evidence gathering while the court weighs the threshold questions of jurisdiction and the legal sufficiency of Trump’s claims.
The court will next consider the motion to dismiss and the request to halt discovery. No additional hearing details were included in the filings.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
