President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden recently filed a lawsuit in New York City against Fox News on Sunday evening and alleged that the network targeted him “in an effort to harass, annoy, alarm, and humiliate him, and tarnish his reputation.”
Joe Biden’s son has sued over a six-part “mock trial” series called “The Trial of Hunter Biden,” a fictional program that included images of Hunter nude. Hunter’s suit alleges Fox News violated NY Civil Rights Law Sec 52-b, which covers so-called “revenge porn.” The series premiered in late October 2022 and was promoted as a look at “how a possible Hunter Biden trial might look.”
“Far from reporting on a newsworthy event, Fox sought to commercialize Mr. Biden’s personality through a form of treatment distinct from the dissemination of news or information. Indeed, the entire miniseries is fictionalized and based on a nonexistent criminal case,” alleged Hunter’s court filing.
Fox had reacted to the filing in a statement to Mediaite, “This entirely politically motivated lawsuit is devoid of merit. The core complaint stems from a 2022 streaming program that Mr. Biden did not complain about until sending a letter in late April 2024. The program was removed within days of the letter, in an abundance of caution, but Hunter Biden is a public figure who has been the subject of multiple investigations and is now a convicted felon. Consistent with the First Amendment, FOX News has accurately covered the newsworthy events of Mr. Biden’s own making, and we look forward to vindicating our rights in court.”
Fox had removed the series from its streamer in late April as Hunter initially threatened to sue. Fox told Mediaite at the time, “This program was produced in and has been available since 2022. We are reviewing the concerns that have just been raised and — out of an abundance of caution in the interim — have taken it down.”
Fox quietly scrubbed the mock series from Fox Nation and also took down a promotional video related to the series. At the time Hunter’s lawyers threatened Fox with legal action and cited revenge porn laws.
Hunter’s legal team alleged that the series used “intimate images of Mr. Biden depicting him in the nude as well as engaged in sex acts” adding “FOX knows that these private and confidential images were hacked, stolen, and/or manipulated digital material.” The letter cited “revenge porn” laws and demanded the immediate removal of the series.
