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Hunter Biden has dropped his lawsuit against Fox News just hours after his father, President Joe Biden, announced he was withdrawing from the 2024 presidential race.
The president’s son sued the right-wing outlet for defamation claiming it published nude photos and videos of him without his consent in a six-part fictional mock trial series titled “The Trial of Hunter Biden”.
In the lawsuit, filed on July 1, Hunter Biden accused Fox News of “target[ing] Mr Biden in an effort to harass, annoy, alarm, and humiliate him, and tarnish his reputation” with false claims about his business ventures, drug abuse, alleged illegal activity and foreign investments.
“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,” the lawsuit stated.
“Indeed, the entire miniseries is fictionalized and based on a nonexistent criminal case.”
Despite stating the trial was fictional, the lawsuit claimed that the show presented actual emails and “nonconsensual intimate images.”
“While using certain true information, the series intentionally manipulates the facts, distorts the truth, narrates happenings out of context, and invents dialogue intended to entertain,” the lawsuit stated.
“Thus, the viewer of the series cannot decipher what is fact and what is fiction, which is highly damaging to Mr Biden.”
The intimate images have also been shown in congressional hearings, most notably by MAGA Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene.
In a statement at the time the suit was filed, a spokesperson for Fox News told The Independent: “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.”
On Sunday – the same day as his father stepped down as the Democratic party nominee – Hunter Biden’s lawyers filed court papers seeking to have the lawsuit dismissed.
It is not clear if the two events are linked.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Biden’s exit from the race came following weeks of pressure from his own party and falling poll numbers, following his dismal debate performance last month.
Now, Kamala Harris has emerged as the frontrunner to take on Donald Trump in the presidential election.
Though she is yet to be officially crowned the presidential nominee, the Biden-Harris campaign has already amended its filings with the Federal Election Commission to declare her its chosen candidate.
