BBC director general Tim Davie and BBC News chief executive Deborah Turness announced on Sunday they were resigning from their roles.
The resignations come as the British public broadcaster comes under criticism for its editing of President Trump's January 6, 2021 speech to the US Congress. Capitol riot and rebellion.
The BBC investigative series Panorama, broadcast a week before the US presidential election last year, showed an edited video of Trump's speech.
Critics said the way the speech was edited was misleading because it excluded a section in which Trump said he expected his supporters to demonstrate peacefully.
“I know everyone here will soon be marching to the Capitol building to make your voices heard peacefully and patriotically,” Trump said in a speech during which he also urged his supporters to “fight like hell.”
In a statement, Turness acknowledged the Panorama controversy, saying: “In public life, leaders must take full responsibility, and that is why I am resigning. While mistakes have been made, I want to make it absolutely clear that recent claims that BBC News is institutionally biased are wrong.”
In a separate press release, Davie said: “In these times of increasing polarization, the BBC has a unique value and speaks to the very best of us. It helps make Britain a special place: extraordinarily kind, tolerant and curious. Like all public organisations, the BBC is not perfect and we must always be open, transparent and accountable.”
“While the current debate surrounding BBC News is not the only reason, it understandably contributed to my decision. Overall the BBC is doing well, but some mistakes have been made and as director-general I must take full responsibility.”
Trump was impeached and criminally charged for his role in the January 6, 2021 riot and insurrection. The criminal charges were dropped after he won the 2024 election because U.S. Justice Department policy states that a sitting president cannot face criminal prosecution.
Pressure on the broadcaster's senior management increased after the Daily Telegraph published parts of a dossier compiled by Michael Prescott, who was hired to advise the BBC on standards and guidelines.
Beyond Trump's editorial, she criticized the BBC's coverage of transgender issues and raised concerns about anti-Israel bias in the BBC Arabic service.
The 103-year-old BBC has faced more scrutiny than other broadcasters, as well as criticism from its commercial rivals, because of its status as a national institution, funded by an annual $230 license fee paid by all households with a television.
The BBC broadcasts a huge range of entertainment and sport programs across numerous television and radio stations, as well as online platforms, but it is BBC news that is most often scrutinized.
The broadcaster is required by its charter to be impartial in its output, and critics are quick to point out what they see as its failure. It's often a political football: Conservatives see a leftist bias in the news, and some liberals accuse them of conservative bias.
He was also criticized from all sides for his coverage of the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. In February, the BBC removed a documentary about the Gaza Strip from its streaming service after it emerged that the child narrator was the son of an official in the Hamas-led government.
The BBC shake-up comes amid Trump's extremely aggressive response to lawsuits against US media companies. Paramount Global forked out over $16 million this summer after Trump complained about the editing of an interview with Kamala Harris on CBS's “60 Minutes.” Last year ABC News paid $16 million to settle Trump's defamation lawsuit against host George Stephanopoulos.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
