President Biden’s son Hunter Biden sued Fox Information on Sunday, arguing {that a} mini-series produced by the corporate broke the regulation by sharing express images and movies of him with out his permission.
This system, “The Trial of Hunter Biden,” which first appeared in 2022 on Fox Nation, the community’s streaming service, introduced a dramatized model of a felony trial of Mr. Biden, with fictional fees. The mini-series built-in real-life photos of Mr. Biden within the nude and engaged in intercourse acts, imagery that was found on a laptop computer that Mr. Biden deserted at a pc restore store in Delaware.
The lawsuit, filed in New York Supreme Court docket in Manhattan, accuses Fox of violating a so-called revenge porn regulation in New York State that was handed in 2019. The regulation permits individuals to sue anybody who shares their sexually express images and movies with out permission.
“Fox printed and disseminated these intimate photos to its huge viewers of thousands and thousands as a part of an leisure program as a way to humiliate, harass, annoy and alarm Mr. Biden and to tarnish his repute,” the lawsuit states.
In an announcement on Monday, a Fox Information spokeswoman referred to as Mr. Biden’s lawsuit “fully politically motivated” and “devoid of benefit.”
“Hunter Biden is a public determine who has been the topic of a number of investigations and is now a convicted felon,” the spokeswoman mentioned. “In step with the First Modification, Fox Information has precisely coated the newsworthy occasions of Mr. Biden’s personal making, and we sit up for vindicating our rights in court docket.”
Fox eliminated “The Trial of Hunter Biden” from Fox Nation in April, a day after Mr. Biden’s attorneys despatched a letter to the community demanding that the mini-series be taken down.
“The core grievance stems from a 2022 streaming program that Mr. Biden didn’t complain about till sending a letter in late April 2024,” the Fox spokeswoman mentioned on Monday, including that the community eliminated this system “in an abundance of warning.”
Final month, Mr. Biden was discovered responsible on three felony counts associated to purchasing a firearm. He’s set to go on trial this yr on fees of tax evasion. The Fox mini-series depicted Mr. Biden as standing trial for fees of bribery and performing as a overseas agent, however the authorities have by no means introduced these fees towards him.
A consultant for Mr. Biden’s regulation agency declined to touch upon Monday past the grievance. The lawsuit requests compensatory and punitive damages and an order requiring that Fox take away any copies of the specific photos of Mr. Biden from its platforms.
Final yr, Fox agreed to pay $787.5 million to settle a defamation go well with introduced by Dominion Voting Programs, which accused the community of selling baseless claims about election fraud that flipped votes to Joseph R. Biden Jr. within the 2020 presidential election.