The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is set to issue a public apology on Monday following intense backlash over an edited clip of a speech by U.S. President Donald Trump, which critics say misleadingly implied he directly incited the January 6 Capitol attack.
The controversy has triggered a leadership crisis at the UK’s public broadcaster, leading to the resignations of Director-General, Tim Davie and BBC News Chief Executive Deborah Turness on Sunday.
Both stepped down after it emerged that the BBC’s flagship investigative programme, Panorama, had used what some described as a “deceptive edit” in a recent documentary.
BBC Chair Samir Shah called the situation “a sad day for the BBC” and is expected to appear before the UK Parliament’s Culture, Media and Sport Committee on Monday to explain the circumstances surrounding the controversy.
The state-funded broadcaster has faced growing political pressure in recent years, with accusations of editorial bias coming from across the political spectrum — most recently over its coverage of the ongoing war in Gaza.
While Donald Trump celebrated the resignations, accusing BBC journalists of being “corrupt and dishonest,” Turness defended the organization in her resignation note, insisting that allegations of institutional bias were “wrong and unfair.”
The leadership upheaval comes as the UK government prepares to review the BBC’s Royal Charter, which sets out the corporation’s governance structure, funding, and public service mission — a process that could reshape the future of the broadcaster.
The BBC’s expected apology on Monday aims to restore public trust amid what many observers describe as one of the most serious editorial crises in its modern history.
