Hunter Biden Drops Suit Against Fox News Over Images Used in 2022 Series

Hunter Biden (C) arrives for a closed door deposition before the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability and House Judiciary Committee in Washington on Feb. 28, 2024. Alex Wong/Getty Images

An attorney for Hunter Biden filed notice in a New York court seeking the dismissal of a lawsuit he filed against Fox News under a state “revenge porn” statute.

In the lawsuit, filed on June 30, Mr. Biden accused Fox News of illegally publishing explicit images of him as part of a streaming series in 2022.

Attorneys for the president’s son filed the voluntary dismissal notice on July 21—the same day President Joe Biden announced that he’s no longer seeking reelection in November.

The one-page filing didn’t stipulate a reason for the voluntary dismissal, only stating that Mr. Hunter Biden is seeking the case to be dismissed without prejudice—meaning it could possibly be brought back up in the future.

Mr. Biden’s attorney didn’t respond by publication time to The Epoch Times’ request for comment.

The initial lawsuit claimed that Fox News and its affiliates produced and distributed a series that featured non-consensual intimate images of Mr. Biden, according to the lawsuit.

The series, titled “The Trial of Hunter Biden,” presented hypothetical legal proceedings against Mr. Biden on charges of bribery and violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act. His attorneys noted that their client hadn’t been charged with these crimes.

“In other words, the miniseries is fictionalized; it is not a news event,” the lawsuit stated. “It was made for the purpose of trade and advertising, and merely exploits Mr. Biden’s name, image, and likeness for Fox’s commercial benefit.”

Mr. Biden’s legal team asserted that Fox’s actions were a clear violation of New York Civil Rights Law Section 52-b, which prohibits the nonconsensual dissemination of intimate images—also known as the “revenge porn” statute.

“The unauthorized publication and dissemination of the Intimate Images has caused Mr. Biden severe emotional distress, humiliation, and mental anguish, as well as irreparable injury to his personal and professional reputation,” the lawsuit claimed.

In April, Fox Nation removed “The Trial of Hunter Biden” from the streaming platform, but Mr. Biden’s attorneys said there were still promotional “reels and clips” of the “mocu-series” that weren’t removed when the suit was filed at the end of June, according to the lawsuit.

Fox News at the time maintained that the lawsuit was baseless and politically motivated.

The network argued that the series was a legitimate exercise of its First Amendment rights and that the images in question were relevant to the public discourse surrounding Mr. Biden’s alleged activities.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.