US judge allows $10B defamation lawsuit against BBC to proceed

A US federal judge on Tuesday allowed President Donald Trump’s $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the BBC to proceed, partially rejecting the British broadcaster’s motion to dismiss the case.

The lawsuit stems from the BBC’s editing of separate remarks made by Trump ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021, US Capitol riot in its Panorama documentary titled “Trump: A Second Chance.”

Trump-appointed US District Judge Jeffrey T. Kuntz in Florida said the president had sufficiently alleged potential reputational harm, noting that the documentary’s release ahead of an election could have affected his public image, local media reported.

The judge highlighted the BBC’s decision to combine remarks Trump made nearly 55 minutes apart, an editing choice for which the broadcaster has since apologized.

“BBC tries to frame this editing as ordinary editing done to condense a seventy-minute-long speech into twelve seconds. But the Court is not persuaded,” the judge wrote.

While acknowledging that editing is often necessary, the judge said the time gap between the remarks could support the inference that the BBC knew or should have known that the resulting segment was misleading.

“This was not trimming around the edges but creating something different than what was stated in the speech,” he wrote, adding that the editing could potentially support a finding of “actual malice.”

The judge also said Trump’s allegations that the BBC departed from journalistic standards were sufficient to suggest conduct beyond mere negligence.

The BBC said in a statement that it was surprised by the decision but respected the court’s authority and would continue to defend its position through the legal process.

Trump welcomed the ruling on Truth Social, describing it as a “huge victory” and vowing to continue fighting those who, he said, sought to deceive the American public.

Although the judge found that Trump had sufficiently alleged actual malice, the legal standard required for public figures to prevail in defamation cases, the president will still have to prove it at trial.

“Whether President Trump can prove these claims and establish he sustained damages at summary judgment or trial is left for another day,” he wrote in Tuesday’s order.

The judge dismissed Trump’s separate claim that the BBC violated Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, ruling that the documentary did not constitute commercial speech.