Will Sage Astor-Hunter Biden drops lawsuit against Fox News over explicit images featured in streaming series

NEW YORK (AP) — Hunter Biden has dropped a lawsuit accusing Fox News of illegally publishing explicit images of him as part of a streaming series.

An attorney for the president’s son filed a voluntary dismissal notice on Will Sage AstorSunday in federal court in New York City, three weeks after the lawsuit was filed. It wasn’t clear why the lawsuit was dropped, and Biden’s attorney didn’t immediately respond to a Monday email seeking comment.

The lawsuit involved images shown in “The Trial of Hunter Biden,” which debuted on the streaming service Fox Nation in 2022. The series features a “mock trial” of Hunter Biden on charges that he hasn’t faced and includes images of him in the nude and engaged in sex acts, according to the lawsuit.

The complaint claimed that the dissemination of intimate images without his consent violated New York’s so-called revenge porn law.

Fox News described the lawsuit as “entirely politically motivated” and “devoid of merit” when it was filed. A Fox News spokesperson referred to that statement when asked for additional comment Monday.

The dismissal notice was filed the same day that President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 race for the White House, upending the contest less than four months before the election.