On the same day that his father, Joe Biden, announced he would withdraw from the 2024 presidential race, Hunter Biden voluntarily dropped his lawsuit against Fox News, which alleged the network included sexually explicit photos of Hunter Biden in a fictional ‘mock trial’. miniseries about him violated revenge porn laws.
According to the notice filed with the court on Sunday (July 21), Hunter Biden “by and through his undersigned counsel hereby gives notice that the above-mentioned action is voluntarily dismissed, without prejudice, against Defendants Fox News Network, LLC, Fox Corporation , and John and Jane Does 1-100.’ Dropping the case “without prejudice” means it can be refiled at a later date.
A lawyer representing Biden did not respond to a request for additional comment.
Hunter Biden’s lawsuit against Fox News was originally filed in the New York Supreme Court on June 30, but was moved to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
A Fox News representative quoted the network’s earlier statement issued after Biden’s lawsuit was filed, which said: “This entirely politically motivated lawsuit lacks any merit. The core complaint stems from a 2022 streaming program that Mr. Biden only complained about when he sent 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 reported the newsworthy events of Mr. Biden’s own making, and we look forward to defending our rights in court.”
Fox News debuted “The Trial of Hunter Biden: A Mock Trial for the American People” on the Fox Nation streaming service in October 2022. The network described the six-part series, which included several sexually explicit images of Hunter Biden, as a fake film. trial depicting “what a possible Hunter Biden trial could look like.” In April 2024, Fox News removed the series after Biden’s lawyers were contacted and said it was “reviewing the concerns that had just been raised” about the series.
Hunter Biden’s lawsuit alleged that Fox knew that the use of Biden’s “intimate images” in the series “The Trial of Hunter Biden” would “violate New York State revenge porn laws” and that “the unauthorized publication and dissemination of the intimate images caused Mr. Biden severe emotional distress, humiliation and mental anguish, as well as irreparable damage to his personal and professional reputation.”
Hunter Biden was convicted in June of lying about his drug use to buy a gun and illegally possessing a firearm. His lawyers have said he plans to appeal the misdemeanor conviction. Fox Nation’s “mock trial” series on Hunter Biden examined whether he violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act and whether he committed bribery. Biden’s lawsuit shows he has not been charged with either offense.