The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is preparing to issue a formal apology after a documentary broadcast by its flagship current-affairs programme Panorama was found to have deceptively edited remarks made by Donald Trump on January 6 2021.
The edits reportedly created the false impression that Trump explicitly urged his supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol, when parts of his speech advocating peaceful protest were omitted.
The planned apology, expected to be delivered early next week, will come from BBC Chairman Samir Shah in a letter to the UK Parliament’s Culture, Media and Sport Committee.
According to reports, the edits in the documentary merged two separate segments of Trump’s speech—one in which he said “we’re going to walk down to the Capitol and I’ll be there with you” and another nearly an hour later where he added “we fight like hell…”—thereby misrepresenting the original chronology and context.
The BBC reportedly became aware of internal complaints as early as May 2025 from an internal memo, but did not act until the issue became public.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has described the allegations as “incredibly serious,” and regulators are reviewing whether the broadcaster breached its editorial standards.
The BBC has said it takes the matter seriously and that discussions are underway regarding leadership reforms and editorial oversight.
This announcement follows growing scrutiny of the BBC’s coverage of other high-profile issues, including its Arabic-language service and reporting on transgender rights, prompting questions about bias and editorial governance within the broadcaster.
