Hunter Biden has filed a lawsuit against Fox News, accusing the network of distributing “revenge porn” in its miniseries of a mock trial over imaginary criminal charges against him.
Filed in New York state court on Sunday, the lawsuit accuses the network of engaging in “unlawful commercial exploitation of Mr. Biden’s image, name, and likeness” in its six-part miniseries, “The Trial of Hunter Biden.” Although the series is fictional, it points to real stills and videos that show the president’s son unclothed, with his intimate parts exposed and engaging in sex acts.
“Fox published and disseminated these intimate images to its vast audience of millions as part of an entertainment program in order to humiliate, harass, annoy, and alarm Mr. Biden and to tarnish his reputation,” the complaint states.
Fox News called Biden’s lawsuit “politically motivated” and “devoid of merit.”
“Hunter Biden is a public figure who has been the subject of multiple investigations and is now a convicted felon,” a network spokesperson said. “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.”
Biden last month was convicted on federal charges of lying to obtain a firearm, which he is appealing. He is also set to stand trial in a federal tax case in September. But the Fox News series, released on its streaming service in October 2022, is centered on a mock trial over hypothetical charges of illegal foreign lobbying and bribery against the president’s son, crimes he has never been charged with. Biden threatened to sue the network in April, prompting Fox News to quickly remove the series from its platforms. Months later, Biden has made good on his threat. The lawsuit alleges that Fox News’ publication of his nude images violates New York’s statute on the distribution of intimate photos of a person without their consent. It also seeks damages from Fox News — which already reached a $787 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems last April and is battling it out in court with Smartmatic in a separate defamation lawsuit — and an order to remove any copies of the explicit images from the network’s platforms.
Clarissa-Jan Lim is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW. She was previously a senior reporter and editor at BuzzFeed News.
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