Hunter Biden Accuses Fox News Of ‘Revenge Porn’ Over ‘Mock Trial’ Series
Hunter Biden is suing Fox News for airing and promoting a “mock trial” series that includes photographs and video of him nude and engaging in sex acts, which he says violates state civil and criminal “revenge porn” laws because they were shared without his permission.
In the suit, filed Sunday in New York, Biden claims that “The Trial of Hunter Biden,” which first aired in October 2022 on Fox News’ subscription streaming site Fox Nation, was produced as part of the network’s targeted efforts to “harass, annoy, alarm, and humiliate him, and tarnish his reputation.”
Fox News removed the six-part series from its platform in April after Biden threatened to sue, but he said the damage had been done.
“The unauthorized publication and dissemination of the Intimate Images has caused Mr. Biden severe emotional distress, humiliation, and mental anguish, as well as irreparable injury to his personal and professional reputation,” the lawsuit states.
It also notes that Fox had not removed promotional material about the show, including on its Facebook page.
The mock trial “merely exploits Mr. Biden’s name, image, and likeness for Fox’s commercial benefit,” the lawsuit states.
Biden was found guilty in June of illegally owning a gun and lying to authorities about his drug use when he purchased the firearm in 2018. He pleaded not guilty, and his attorneys argued that the prosecution was politically motivated. He faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison.
The arguments presented in “The Trial of Hunter Biden” concern alleged crimes that Biden has not been charged with: bribery and being an unregistered foreign agent.
The sexually explicit images and examples of Biden’s actual emails are presented as “evidence” in the mock trial and could be misconstrued by viewers, the lawsuit claims. The materials were purportedly obtained from Biden’s laptop, which was used as evidence in his federal gun trial. One of the “witnesses” testifying in the mock trial was John Paul Mac Isaac, the Delaware computer repair shop owner who said he reviewed private and sensitive information on the laptop after Biden failed to pick it up.
“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. Thus, the viewer of the series cannot decipher what is fact and what is fiction, which is highly damaging to Mr. Biden,” the lawsuit says.
Biden’s lawsuit emphasizes that the series was “intended solely as entertainment and not as news.”
In a statement to HuffPost, a spokesperson for Fox News said that it had taken the series down “in an abundance of caution” but called the lawsuit “politically motivated.”
“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,” the spokesperson said.
A spokesperson for Biden’s law firm, Geragos & Geragos, told HuffPost that they would not be commenting beyond the complaint at this time.
Biden drew an analogy between his case and a lawsuit by Dominion Voting Systems, which had sued Fox News for promoting the false narrative that the 2020 presidential election had been rigged by the company’s voting machines. Fox News settled the case for $787 million.
Fox Nation hosts a slate of original true crime content, including dramas and documentaries about notorious cases like Alex Murdaugh’s conviction for killing his wife and son.
Biden is requesting a jury trial and is asking for compensatory and punitive damages, any profits from the series be paid to him, as well attorneys’ fees and other costs. He is also demanding that the images be removed and permanently destroyed.
