Kevin Morris, often referred to as the “sugar brother” of Hunter Biden, has unexpectedly requested to withdraw a lawsuit against Garrett Ziegler, the founder of the conservative research group Marco Polo. The lawsuit claimed personal information was improperly disclosed and involved harassment.
Morris, a high-profile Hollywood agent who has assisted Hunter with legal fees and various business endeavors, accused Ziegler of impersonating a Democratic fundraiser named John Cooper to gather information about Hunter during a text conversation. Ziegler has denied any wrongdoing.
Ziegler’s attorney, Jennifer Holliday, opposed Morris’s motion to dismiss the case without prejudice.
“After more than two and a half years of baseless litigation, without any evidence regarding the alleged impersonator’s phone number… the plaintiffs are seeking to voluntarily terminate without thought to the sender’s terms and the rights of the defendants,” Holliday stated in the court filings.
“This is objectively inappropriate,” she added.
Morris’s team submitted the request to dismiss the lawsuit last Tuesday, and Holliday responded on the same day.
Ziegler’s team has also asked Morris to pay $364,814 in legal fees before the lawsuit can be dropped.
“The plaintiffs are well-resourced attorneys from the entertainment industry who have filed suit against out-of-state defendants for actions protected under the First Amendment,” Holliday emphasized.
“As a result, the defendants had to hire specialized attorneys and conduct considerable factual and legal analysis to defend their rights, leading to these costs.”
It’s unclear why Morris is now attempting to drop the lawsuit. His attorney has not commented on the matter.
In March, Hunter Biden succeeded in a lawsuit against Ziegler, a former aide under Peter Navarro during the Trump administration, over allegations of laptop hacking. The judge ruled Hunter could not bring the case again.
Morris’s court documents claimed that Ziegler impersonated Cooper and tricked him into revealing important information about Hunter’s laptop.
After extracting the information, the impersonator reportedly sent Morris a text message on May 29, 2022, featuring an image of a cartoon squid around the phrase “Marco Polo: Nothing is beyond our reach.”
Morris quickly contacted Ziegler, demanding he stop and threatening legal repercussions. He warned, “You’re going to go to jail. We’re going to take all the money your family has. And you’ll work for us for the rest of your life,” highlighting the intensity of the interactions.
In a heated follow-up, he purportedly continued, “You’ll come to my house every day and wash my car. We will follow you to the ends of the earth.”
Morris believed the individual he was communicating with was Ziegler. However, Holliday pointedly noted in court documents that this has not been substantiated.
“Morris claims in his filing, without ever attaching a phone number or reliable evidence, that the ‘impersonator’ is Ziegler, who has made sworn statements denying he communicated with Morris,” she stated.
Things haven’t been looking great for Morris in this legal battle. For instance, last summer, the California Court of Appeals dismissed one of his claims regarding violations of the state’s criminal disclosure law.
Additionally, his claims concerning civil harassment were dismissed, although the impersonation claim was allowed to proceed.
Morris, who has worked with high-profile clients like Matthew McConaughey and Scarlett Johansson, first encountered Hunter at a fundraiser for Joe Biden in November 2019. Their relationship deepened, partially due to Morris’s own struggles with alcoholism, leading Morris to provide Hunter substantial financial support.
This included aid for legal claims, overdue taxes, car payments, and reported art purchases. Morris was also present during Hunter’s recent gun charge trial.
A court hearing regarding the dismissal of the Morris v. Ziegler lawsuit may take place as early as January 29, 2026.
