In a surprising move, Fox News has removed “The Trial of Hunter Biden,” a six-part mock trial miniseries, from its digital streaming platform. The decision indicates that the cable news network is taking the 14-page demand letter from Hunter Biden's attorneys more seriously than previously suggested.
The letter requests that Fox News preserve all relevant documents regarding the allegations of conspiracy to defame Hunter for profit. (RELATED: Hunter Biden To Sue Fox News For Unflattering Coverage)
Fox confirmed that it scrubbed the Hunter Biden miniseries for the time being.
The network also deleted a promotional video promising viewers an inside look at “how a possible Hunter Biden trial might look.”
In the letter on behalf of Hunter, the law firm Geragos & Geragos chastised the miniseries: “It was made for the purpose of trade and advertising and merely exploits Mr. Biden's name, image, and likeness for FOX's commercial benefit. Thus, FOX is not protected by the newsworthiness exception to the right of privacy/publicity statutes.
“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,” the letter adds. “Thus, the viewer of the series cannot decipher what is fact and what is fiction, which is highly damaging to Mr. Biden.”
Mediaite's Jamie Frevele has the latest:
Fox News issued a strong statement in their own defense early on Tuesday, saying “Hunter Biden's lawyers have belatedly chosen to publicly attack Fox News' constitutionally protected coverage regarding their client,” and “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.”
It also appears that the trailer has been removed from YouTube. In a letter obtained by CNN and reported on Monday, Biden's lawyers alleged that the series used “intimate images of Mr. Biden depicting him in the nude as well as engaged in sex acts” adding “FOX knows that these private and confidential images were hacked, stolen, and/or manipulated digital material.” The letter cited “revenge porn” laws and demanded the immediate removal of the series.
When Mediaite asked for a comment, a Fox spokesperson further clarified the rationale behind the decision:
This program was produced in and has been available since 2022. We are reviewing the concerns that have just been raised and — out of an abundance of caution in the interim — have taken it down.
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