Fact Checking

Fox News Pulls Hunter Biden Series After Defamation Threat

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Fox News took down a six-part series about Hunter Biden from its streaming service, Fox Nation, on Tuesday. This action was taken after the president’s son’s lawyers threatened to sue the network for defamation. The series, titled “The Trial of Hunter Biden,” had been promoted on Fox News.

Geragos & Geragos, a law firm, sent a letter to Fox News this week. The letter stated that the docuseries contained inflammatory and sexually explicit images related to Hunter Biden’s legal issues. It cited “revenge porn” laws and demanded the immediate removal of the series.

In response to a Newsweek email on Tuesday afternoon, Fox News stated that the program was taken down “out of an abundance of caution.” The program had been produced and available since 2022. The network is currently reviewing the recently raised concerns.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the link to the Hunter Biden series on the Fox Nation site was not functioning. The series included a “mock trial” about Hunter Biden, focusing on the overseas financial transactions that resulted in his federal tax indictment and contributed to the House impeachment inquiry into the president.

In a letter obtained by CNN on Monday, Biden’s lawyers claimed that the series used “intimate images of Mr. Biden depicting him in the nude as well as engaged in sex acts.” The letter added that “FOX knows that these private and confidential images were hacked, stolen, and/or manipulated digital material.”

The letter also reportedly asked the conservative news outlet to “preserve all documents potentially relevant to the allegations in this letter.” It also stated that “we anticipate that litigation against FOX … is imminent.”

Fox News issued a separate statement about the letter it received from Hunter Biden’s attorneys. The statement said, “Hunter Biden’s lawyers have belatedly chosen to publicly attack Fox News’ constitutionally protected coverage regarding their client.”

In an emailed response, attorney Mark J. Geragos said Fox News should retract the statement. He said, “Predictably Fox News has once again doubled down on its efforts to mislead the public.” Geragos demanded that Fox immediately retract and correct today’s statement, which he described as the latest example of its relentless attack on Hunter Biden in complete disregard for the truth.