Mediaite is reporting today that Eric Chase Bolling, the only child of former Fox News and Fox Business host Eric Bolling, has died.
It was first reported on Twitter by Huffington Post and New York Magazine contributor Yashar Ali:
Earlier this month, Bolling filed a $50M lawsuit against Ali — a former chief of staff for San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom — who reported on Aug. 4 that unnamed sources told him that Bolling sent lewd messages to colleagues via text. Ali’s attorneys have asked that the suit be dropped.
Bolling has denied the allegations and said on Twitter that he was looking forward to “clearing my name asap.”
While it may seem odd that Ali is the one who broke the news about Bolling’s son on Twitter, it’s possible that sources he developed for the first story may have contacted him again.
(NOTE at 6:47 p.m. Pacific: The report of suicide below is now in question. See at the bottom of the story.)
From Mediaite:
A source close to Eric Bolling also confirmed the news to Mediaite. A different source said the cause of death was suicide.
A statement from Fox News is expected soon.
Eric Bolling had been a rising star at Fox News, where he had hosted the now canceled television program, The Specialists and was a regular panelist on The Five. His ten year career was undone by a sexual harassment scandal. The network announced only yesterday that they had officially severed tied with Bolling.
This is a developing story.
I have interviewed Bolling in the past and exchanged emails with him, and he was always kind and gracious. He isa Catholic who said he visited St. Patrick’s Church in New York City each day to light candles.
From a 2013 story I did with Bolling early in the run of his Fox News show “The Five”:
“I drive into the city,” he tells Zap2it, “park my car, come up to my office, turn on the computer, make sure there’s no fires that need to be put out. Then I put my jacket back on and literally walk over to St. Patrick’s Cathedral, light the candles, come back. I don’t do it because I’m supposed to do it; I do it because I like it. It makes me feel good, knowing that I’ve done that.
“I light five candles. One, two, three, four, five — get it?”
Please pray for Bolling and his wife, Adrienne.
UPDATE: Fox News has released a statement:
UPDATE at 6:47 p.m. Pacific: Eric Bolling has tweeted, refuting the report of suicide, at least at this point.
Image: Courtesy Fox News
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