Two senior executives at the BBC have stepped down amid a growing controversy over impartiality and alleged manipulation of footage involving US President Donald Trump. The resignations of Director-General Tim Davie and BBC News chief executive Deborah Turness were reported by CNN after the leak of an internal memo exposing that the broadcaster had edited a segment of Trump’s January 6, 2021 speech in a misleading way. The altered version reportedly made it appear as though he had urged violence during the Capitol unrest.

According to CNN, Davie informed BBC staff of his resignation in a note on Sunday afternoon, stressing that the decision was “entirely my own.” He acknowledged the broadcaster’s overall achievements but said he must take responsibility for recent missteps. “The BBC is performing well, but there have been mistakes, and as Director-General, I bear ultimate responsibility,” he was quoted as saying.

Deborah Turness, who also resigned, addressed the issue on the BBC’s website, stating that the controversy surrounding the Panorama program on Trump had reached a point where it was damaging the institution. “The buck stops with me,” she said, explaining that she had offered her resignation to Davie on Saturday. She rejected accusations that the network was “institutionally biased,” describing such claims as false, but admitted that “mistakes have been made.”

The resignations follow reports from The Telegraph citing a whistleblower memo that revealed the broadcaster had aired a “doctored” version of Trump’s 2021 speech in Washington, D.C. The edit reportedly combined separate segments in a way that made it seem he encouraged his supporters to “fight like hell” and march with him to the Capitol. In reality, Trump’s original words were: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women,” according to CNN.

Following the reports, President Trump criticized the BBC leadership in a post on Truth Social, describing the scandal as “a terrible thing for democracy.” He thanked The Telegraph for exposing what he called “corrupt journalists” and said the network’s top officials were “caught doctoring” his “very good (PERFECT!)” speech. “The TOP people in the BBC, including TIM DAVIE, the BOSS, are all quitting/FIRED,” he wrote, accusing them of trying to manipulate perceptions of a presidential election. “These are very dishonest people from a foreign country - our ally, yes - but what a terrible thing for Democracy!” he added.

CNN noted that both Davie and Turness emphasized their departures were motivated by accountability and concern for the institution’s credibility, not by pressure from external actors. The scandal has sparked widespread debate in the UK over the BBC’s editorial standards and its handling of politically sensitive content.