On the same day his father, Joe Biden, announced he was dropping out of the 2024 presidential race, Hunter Biden voluntarily dropped his lawsuit against Fox News that alleged the network included sexually explicit images of Hunter Biden in a fictional miniseries about a “mock trial” of him, violating revenge porn laws.
According to the notice filed with the court on Sunday (July 21), Hunter Biden, “by his undersigned counsel, hereby declares that the above-mentioned lawsuit is voluntarily dismissed, without prejudice, against Defendants Fox News Network, LLC, Fox Corporation, and John and Jane Does 1-100.” The dismissal of the case “without prejudice” means it may 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 on June 30 in New York Supreme Court but has been moved to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
A Fox News representative cited the network’s previous statement after Biden’s lawsuit was filed, which read: “This entirely politically motivated lawsuit is without merit. The underlying complaint stems from a 2022 broadcast that Mr. Biden did not complain about until he sent a letter in late April 2024. The broadcast was removed within days of the letter, out of 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. In keeping with the First Amendment, Fox News has accurately covered newsworthy events that Mr. Biden himself has created, and we look forward to defending our rights in court.”
In October 2022, Fox News aired “The Trial of Hunter Biden: A Mock Trial for the American People” on its Fox Nation streaming service. The network described the six-part series, which featured numerous sexual images of Hunter Biden, as a mock trial depicting “what a potential Hunter Biden trial might look like.” In April 2024, Fox News removed the series after being contacted by Biden's lawyers, saying it was “reviewing concerns that have just been raised” about the series.
Hunter Biden's lawsuit alleged that Fox knew that its use of Biden's “intimate images” in “The Trial of Hunter Biden” “would violate New York State's revenge porn laws” and that “the unauthorized publication and distribution of the intimate images caused Mr. Biden severe emotional distress, humiliation, and mental anguish, as well as irreparable injury 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 his felony conviction. Fox Nation’s “Mock Trial” series about Hunter Biden examined whether he violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act and whether he committed bribery. Biden’s lawsuit noted that he was not charged with either crime.
