In a recent development, a federal judge in Florida has given the green light for US President Donald Trump's defamation case against the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) to move forward. The lawsuit, which seeks $10 billion in damages, stems from an episode of Panorama that allegedly edited together two different sections of a speech Trump delivered before the riot at the US Capitol in 2021. The judge, however, dismissed another part of Trump's lawsuit that alleged the BBC had violated a Florida law. Trump, who expressed his victory on Truth Social, will now proceed with the defamation case, while the BBC remains confident in its position and plans to respond through legal channels.
The defamation allegations against the BBC were found sufficient for the case to continue by Judge Jeffrey Kuntz, although he did not rule on the merits of the case yet. Trump's lawsuit, filed in Florida, accuses the BBC of intentionally and maliciously doctoring the speech he gave outside the Capitol on January 6, 2021. The broadcaster has since asked for the lawsuit to be dismissed, arguing that the program does not meet the legal criteria for defamation and was not available in the US.
In addition to defamation, Trump's lawsuit claimed that the BBC had violated Florida law, specifically the Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. However, Judge Kuntz dismissed this part of the lawsuit on Tuesday, ruling that the documentary did not constitute commercial speech. The judge also ordered Trump to answer questions under oath in the lawsuit by December 11, after the president cancelled a previous deposition last month.
According to court documents, Trump's lawyers originally argued that the documentary was available on the BBC's BritBox subscription service and its website, BBC Select, or through US broadcasters. However, they later agreed to drop BBC Studios, the broadcaster's commercial arm, from the defamation lawsuit, as the BBC argued it had "no role in creating or producing the documentary."