Hunter Biden has filed a lawsuit against Fox News over a miniseries that was briefly available on the network's subscriber streaming service, Fox Nation.
The lawsuit was filed on Monday in the Supreme Court of New York.
Biden's lawyers allege in the complaint that Fox "targeted Mr. Biden in an effort to harass, annoy, alarm, and humiliate him, and tarnish his reputation."
"To this end, and without Mr. Biden’s consent, Fox produced an entirely fictional six-part 'mock trial' entitled 'The Trial of Hunter Biden', which first became available for streaming on Fox Nation on October 21, 2022. The miniseries was described by Fox as 'a riveting look at the unresolved legal situation of President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter.' As Fox explained, the mock trial captures 'how a possible Hunter Biden trial might look.'"
“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 reads. “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.”
Biden's legal team had threatened to sue Fox over the mini-series in April, and the network quickly unpublished it.
“This program was produced in and has been available since 2022,” Fox said in a press release at the time. “We are reviewing the concerns that have just been raised and — out of an abundance of caution in the interim — have taken it down.”
Before pulling it down, Fox had tried to defend the program under the First Amendment.
“Mr. Biden is a public figure who has been the subject of investigations by both the Department of Justice and Congress, has been indicted by two different US Attorney’s Offices in California and Delaware, and has admitted to multiple incidents of wrongdoing,” the outlet originally argued. “Consistent with the First Amendment, Fox News has accurately covered these highly publicized events as well as the subsequent indictment of an FBI informant who was the source of certain claims made about Mr. Biden.”
In a statement provided to The Hill, Fox said, “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,” the network continued. “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 president's son was convicted earlier this month of three felony charges stemming from his lying during the purchase of a revolver in 2018 when he claimed he was not using illegal drugs or a drug addict.
Sentencing has not yet been scheduled, but Hunter is facing up to 25 years in prison and $750,000 in fines.
