Hunter Biden has filed a lawsuit against Fox News and its parent company over a 2022 miniseries that depicted a “mock trial” of the president’s son. The lawsuit, submitted on Sunday in New York state court, claims that the conservative network profited from publishing his intimate images in the show. The miniseries, titled “The Trial of Hunter Biden,” was a six-part series released on the Fox Nation streaming platform. It featured television personality Judge Joe Brown presiding over an imagined prosecution of Biden for bribery and foreign-agent law violations—charges he has not faced in reality.
Biden’s lawsuit accuses Fox of unjust enrichment, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and illegal publication of his intimate images, violating New York’s “revenge porn” law. However, the lawsuit does not include defamation claims. Fox News responded by calling the lawsuit “entirely politically motivated,” stating that the core complaint stems from a 2022 streaming program that Biden did not address until sending a letter in late April 2024. The network removed the program within days of receiving the letter, citing an abundance of caution. Fox News emphasized that Hunter Biden is a public figure who has been the subject of multiple investigations and is now a convicted felon. They asserted that their coverage was consistent with the First Amendment and accurately reported newsworthy events of Biden’s own making.
Biden’s lawyer did not respond to requests for comment. On Monday, Fox’s attorneys attempted to move the lawsuit to federal court, though it remains unclear whether Biden’s legal team will contest this move. The mock trial featured Brown overseeing a courtroom where a “prosecutor” used evidence from Biden’s laptop. Real-life figures from Biden’s life, such as John Paul Mac Isaac, the owner of the computer shop where Biden left his laptop, and New York Post reporter Miranda Devine, who wrote a book about the laptop, testified as witnesses. Biden’s lawsuit alleges that Fox also published sexual images of him taken from the laptop, violating state revenge porn laws.
In April, Biden’s lawyers sent Fox a letter demanding the series be taken down, which the network did a week later. However, the lawsuit claims that promotional videos for the series remain online, and the full show can still be viewed on other platforms. A jury found Biden guilty of felony gun charges in June, and he is scheduled to face another trial on tax charges in September.
Hunter Biden’s lawsuit against Fox News, filed on Monday, alleges that the conservative news outlet violated New York law by publishing nude photos and videos of him without his consent. The sexually graphic images were included in Fox News’ miniseries “The Trial of Hunter Biden,” which sought to portray “how a possible Hunter Biden trial might look” for crimes he has never been indicted for. The program was taken down from the Fox Nation streaming platform after Biden threatened to sue in April. The threat and Monday’s lawsuit are part of Hunter Biden’s more aggressive legal and press strategy in response to Republican attacks and other legal battles.
In the lawsuit, Biden’s lawyers alleged that Fox News intentionally sought to “harass, annoy, alarm, and humiliate” him by publishing the images and “unjustly” enriched itself at his expense. They argued that it would be against equity and good conscience to allow Fox to retain the profits from “The Trial of Hunter Biden,” which should be paid to Biden as restitution. The lawsuit claims that Fox News’ program “intentionally manipulates the facts, distorts the truth,” preventing viewers from discerning “what is fact and what is fiction,” which is highly damaging to Biden. His lawyers demanded that Fox News take down and permanently destroy any intimate images they have of Biden and cover his legal expenses in the case.
Fox News Media, which owns Fox News, stated that the lawsuit was “entirely politically motivated” and “devoid of merit.” They argued that it was within their First Amendment rights to cover “newsworthy events of Mr. Biden’s own making.” The network emphasized that the core complaint stems from a 2022 streaming program that Biden did not address until sending a letter in late April 2024. The program was removed within days of the letter, but Hunter Biden is a public figure who has been the subject of multiple investigations and is now a convicted felon.
The lawsuit comes after Hunter Biden was convicted last month of lying about his drug use to buy a gun and illegally possessing a firearm. His lawyers have stated that he plans to appeal the felony conviction. The Fox Nation “mock trial” series about Hunter Biden examined whether he violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act and whether he committed bribery. Biden’s lawsuit pointed out that he has not been charged with either offense.
Hunter Biden’s legal team first threatened to sue Fox in April over the miniseries. Fox removed “The Trial of Hunter Biden” from its platform days later, but promotional reels and clips of the series have not been removed by Fox, according to Biden’s lawsuit. To file the suit, Hunter Biden enlisted the law firm Geragos & Geragos, whose principal, Mark Geragos, has represented high-profile clients such as Michael Jackson, singer Chris Brown, and actress Winona Ryder. Geragos also has experience representing family members of presidents, having negotiated a plea deal in 2001 for Roger Clinton Jr., the brother of former President Bill Clinton, for driving under the influence.
Hunter Biden was found guilty last month on three counts related to his 2018 purchase of a firearm while allegedly addicted to drugs. This is a developing story, and updates will follow as more information becomes available.
Source: CNN, ABC News, Variety, Axios
