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| Judge to BBC: Trump Has a Defamation Case, You Know | |
| 2026-11-11 | |
| [HotAir] Are we about to finally exorcise the ghosts of New York Times v Sullivan? Or will Donald Trump cut another settlement notch in his media-war belt? I know which way I'm betting. Late yesterday, the BBC lost on a motion in federal court to dismiss a lawsuit from Trump over a news report aired just before the 2024 election. The BBC edited Trump's speech on January 6, 2021, without disclosing that manipulation, making it sound as though Trump had incited violence. Trump filed for damages on the basis of defamation, as well as under the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. Judge Jeffrey Kuntz dismissed the claim under the FDUTPA, but pointedly refused to do the same with defamation. Kuntz noted that Trump had lost some similar cases in the past on the basis that news media reported on actual stories, even if they added commentary. In this case, Kuntz noted, the BBC cooked up a story — and then went way out of its way to promote the defamatory hoax: In CNN, Judge Singhal concluded that "the complained of statements are opinion, not factually false statements, and therefore are not actionable." Cable News Network, 684 F. Supp. 3d at 1274. In Dow Jones, Judge Gayles dismissed President Trump’s claims that the Wall Street Journal failed to adequately investigate claims it reported. Dow Jones & Co., Inc., 2026 WL 3270869, at *9.1 Those cases involved a news entity reporting on a story. Here, the news entity created the story. BBC admitted as much by confirming it had edited a video to make it appear as though President Trump made a statement he never made. And it acknowledged it chose to release the video in a documentary only a week before the 2024 Presidential Election, at the time it would have the most impact. To make sure it was seen in Florida, BBC even emailed U.S. and Florida based commenters with instructions to on how to view the documentary. Whether President Trump can prove these claims and establish he sustained damages at summary judgment or trial is left for another day. For now, after careful review, and being otherwise fully advised, BBC’s Motion to Dismiss is granted in part and denied in part. Kuntz went on to lay out how the BBC created its hoax, a story that will be familiar to Hot Air readers but not likely to the BBC's audience:
Well, this isn't the first time the BBC has been in trouble for doing questionable things. They got busted selectively editing President Trump's January 6, 2021 speech to make it seem like he was inciting an insurrection, they've removed episodes of 'offensive' comedy sketches by Mitchell and Webb, and they came up with this abysmal headline about a peace-seeking Imam. Now Oscar-winning producer Lucie Kon is saying the outlet is investigating Jewish employees for "Zionist beliefs." The BBC itself reported on October 26 that Kon received a £400,000 payout from the BBC after raising antisemitism concerns. Here's more: Lucie Kon, who worked as a commissioning editor overseeing several documentaries, including Mr Nobody Against Putin, told The Telegraph that BBC colleagues said Zionists like her were "evil" following the 7 October attacks. | |
| Posted by:Frank G |