NEW YORK– US President Biden’s son Hunter Biden has dropped his lawsuit against conservative news network Fox News after the broadcaster used nude images of him in a fictional drama, according to court documents released by local media.
The decision came on Sunday, the day Joe Biden announced – under enormous pressure – that he was ending his re-election campaign ahead of next November’s elections. Hunter Biden’s lawyers did not specify why they dropped the lawsuit in court documents.
In early July, Hunter Biden sued the online platform Fox Nation, alleging that its use of real nude images of him as part of the series “The Trial of Hunter Biden” amounted to “revenge pornography.”
The six-episode series was broadcast in 2022 on the online platform Foz News, owned by the family of media mogul Rupert Murdoch.
The series, a dramatized version of a criminal trial, contained a warning that the proceedings were fictional and depicted Hunter Biden being prosecuted for corruption, dovetailing with real-life allegations made for years by supporters of former President Donald Trump citing his past business ties to Ukraine and China.
Those accusations never led to legal action.
The images used in the series come from a laptop that Hunter Biden left at a repair shop but never picked up.
Its content has since been circulating on the Internet and has been the subject of important revelations leading to him being prosecuted for other serious crimes, in addition to those he is already facing.
“This politically motivated lawsuit is without merit,” Fox News said in a statement at the time.
“Mr. Biden did not complain about this until he sent a letter in late April 2024. The program was withdrawn a few days after the letter, out of an abundance of caution,” the network noted.
Source: With information from AFP.