Hunter Biden has abruptly withdrawn his lawsuit against Fox News, just days after his father, President Joe Biden, announced his decision to exit the 2024 presidential race.
The lawsuit, filed less than a month ago, accused the network of unlawfully publishing “intimate images” of Hunter Biden in a fictionalized miniseries about his legal troubles.
The six-part series, “The Trial of Hunter Biden,” aired on Fox Nation’s streaming service in 2022. It featured a dramatized “mock trial” focusing on Hunter Biden’s controversial overseas financial dealings, which have been at the center of federal tax indictments and House Republicans’ impeachment inquiries into President Biden.
Fox News had previously removed the miniseries from its platforms in late April after Hunter Biden threatened legal action.
However, Hunter continued and filed the lawsuit on June 30, claiming the network had engaged in “revenge porn” by including sexually explicit images of him without consent.
Fox News dismissed the lawsuit as “entirely politically motivated” and “devoid of merit,” asserting that their coverage was protected under the First Amendment.
The timing of the lawsuit’s withdrawal, coinciding with Biden’s announcement, has raised questions about potential connections between the two events.
Representatives for Hunter Biden have not commented on the reason for dropping the suit.
Despite this legal retreat, Hunter Biden’s own legal challenges are far from over. He faces a federal tax evasion trial in September and was recently convicted of three federal gun felonies in a separate trial.
Hunter Biden has not been charged in connection with the bribery and foreign lobbying allegations that were central to Fox’s miniseries.