In a stunning shake-up at Britain’s national broadcaster, BBC Director General Tim Davie and Head of News Deborah Turness resigned on Friday following fierce backlash over a Panorama documentary that misrepresented a 2021 speech by U.S. President Donald Trump through misleading editing.

The controversy erupted after The Telegraph revealed details of a leaked internal memo showing the program spliced together two separate segments of Trump’s January 6, 2021 address, aired as though he directly urged supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol. The original remarks were delivered more than 50 minutes apart.

In the unedited speech, Trump said, “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women.”
In the Panorama version, it appeared as, “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol… and I’ll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell.”

Davie, who has led the BBC since 2020, acknowledged the broadcaster had made “mistakes” and said the controversy had “understandably contributed” to his decision to step down.
“Like all public institutions, the BBC is not perfect. We must always be open, transparent, and accountable,” he said in a statement.

Turness, who served as CEO of News and Current Affairs since 2022, also tendered her resignation, saying the Panorama episode had reached a point “where it is causing damage to the BBC.”
“In public life, leaders must be fully accountable, and that is why I am stepping down,” she said, rejecting broader claims of systemic political bias within the newsroom.

The dual resignations came just hours before BBC Chairman Samir Shah was due to appear before Parliament, where he is expected to issue a formal apology. Shah called the departures “a sad day for the BBC,” praising Davie’s leadership but admitting the corporation must rebuild trust.

The leaked memo, authored by former BBC adviser Michael Prescott, alleged “systemic problems” of bias across the organization, citing the Trump edit alongside concerns over coverage of the Israel-Gaza conflict and gender identity issues.

The White House blasted the BBC as “100% fake news,” while Trump welcomed the resignations, claiming executives were “caught doctoring my very good (PERFECT!) speech” to “interfere in a Presidential Election.”

Reaction across Britain was swift. Former BBC executive Roger Mosey said the edit “doesn’t seem defensible,” while Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy praised Davie’s service through “a period of profound change.”
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said the resignations were “right but not enough,” adding, “serious failures run far deeper.”

Davie, who spent over two decades at the BBC, said his departure would allow an “orderly transition” as the broadcaster approaches negotiations over its next Royal Charter, which determines its funding and regulatory framework through 2027.

The scandal marks one of the BBC’s gravest editorial crises in decades, leaving its next leadership with a steep challenge: restoring credibility, ensuring impartiality, and repairing public trust at a moment of intense political and global scrutiny.