Damian Hurley has thanked fans for their ‘overwhelming kindness’ following his father Steve Bing’s suicide.
The student, 18, took to Instagram on Saturday, where he posted a photograph of himself posing in front of a flower backdrop, and shared a gratitude-filled caption alongside.
The message read: ‘I’d like to thank you all again for your overwhelming kindness over the past few days. Your love and support has helped me greatly during this challenging time.’
Thankful: Damian Hurley, 18, has thanked fans for their ‘overwhelming kindness’ following his father Steve Bing’s suicide
Heartfelt: The student took to Instagram on Saturday, where he posted a photograph of himself posing in front of a flower backdrop, and shared a gratitude-filled caption alongside
Damian first broke his silence on Tuesday, after his father Steve jumped to his death at the age of 55.
He said he was experiencing a ‘strange and confusing time’ as he took to Instagram hours after the ‘devastating news’ emerged that the millionaire filmmaker and philanthropist had killed himself.
Alongside a photograph of a beautiful sunset, Damian thanked his followers for their kindness and well-wishes, writing: ‘Thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone that has reached out following the devastating news.
Devastating: Millionaire tycoon Steve Bing tragically took his own life on Monday amid a depression battle (pictured in 2010)
‘This is a strange and confusing time’: Damian first broke his silence on Instagram on Tuesday following the ‘devastating news’
‘I’m trying to reply to as many of you as I can, but please know I will always remember your kindness. This is a very strange and confusing time and I’m immensely grateful to be surrounded by my phenomenal family and friends.’
The filmmaker and philanthropist jumped to his death from the 27th floor of his luxury apartment building in the Century City neighborhood of Los Angeles after becoming depressed due to a lack of social contact during lockdown.
Damian was born after an 18-month relationship between the entrepreneur and actress Elizabeth Hurley, 55, in the early 2000s, before the pair split amid a bitter paternity row.
While it had been reported that Bing had never met his son, Damian’s mother Elizabeth also took to social media to say they had grown close in recent times and had spoken on his 18th birthday.
Alongside a gallery of images from their time together, Elizabeth wrote on Instagram on Tuesday: ‘I am saddened beyond belief that my ex Steve is no longer with us.
Family: Damian pictured with his mother, Elizabeth, who dated Steve in the early 2000s for around 18 months but it was not an exclusive romance
Love: Elizabeth shared Instagram snaps from romantic holidays with Steve on Tuesday, a day after his suicide and admitted they had ‘become close again’
‘I am saddened beyond belief’: She wrote these touching words along the pictures
‘It is a terrible end. Our time together was very happy and I’m posting these pictures because although we went through some tough times, it’s the good, wonderful memories of a sweet, kind man that matter.
‘In the past year we had become close again. We last spoke on our son’s 18th birthday. This is devastating news and I thank everyone for their lovely messages.’
The real estate heir – thought to be worth $590million at the time of his death – took his own life at 1pm local time on Monday, having become depressed amid a lack of human contact during lockdown, sources told TMZ.
On Monday evening, Damian shared a picture of a beautiful blue sky taken through the trees on Instagram Stories.
Happy times: In the throwback photos, taken during their two-year romance, Elizabeth and Steve appeared loved up and went on many adventures together
Memories: Elizabeth shared a snap from a trip on a private jet together
It is not clear whether he was aware of the news when he shared the image from his mother Elizabeth’s Herefordshire countryside home at approximately 4pm UK time.
A one-time Vegas high-roller and strip-club aficionado who was ‘dedicated in equal parts to philanthropy, politics and women’, Bing used his wealth to immerse himself in the glamour of Hollywood, producing films such as Get Carter, starring Sylvester Stallone, and Polar Express, with Tom Hanks.
He was also known for his scandalous private life, including fathering son Damian by Elizabeth and daughter Kira Kerkorian by tennis player Lisa Bonder.
Both children had to undergo paternity tests to prove he was their father – with Bonder’s ex-husband, MGM billionaire Kirk Kerkorian, even hiring a private detective to acquire a sample of Bing’s DNA as evidence.
Smiling: In many of the snaps, the former couple had their arms around one another
Looking back: Despite their tough times, Elizabeth called Steve a ‘sweet, kind man’
Bing and Hurley were also involved in a bitter paternity fight, with a court-ordered DNA test eventually proving he was the father.
He is not thought to have been close with either child, though supported them financially – paying £100,000-a-year into a trust fund for him to access when he turned 18.
During a subsequent inheritance fight with father Peter in which he tried to cut both children out of his will, it was claimed that Steve had never even met Damian. He and Hurley hit back, and ultimately won the case.
Elizabeth met Bing in 2000, while she was ending her 13-year relationship with Hugh Grant.
The couple, whose relationship remained non-exclusive, separated briefly in March 2001.
Travelling: She also shared a snap of them posing together at a ski resort
Poignant: Damian had shared a picture of a beautiful blue sky taken through the trees on Instagram Stories on Monday evening, but it’s not known if he knew of the sad news then
Past love: Elizabeth Hurley pictured with Steve in Los Angeles in 2001
They reportedly reconnected soon after, and in August visited Elton John’s holiday home in Nice.
Elizabeth informed Bing after they separated that he was the father of her child.
He issued a news release saying that they had not been in an exclusive relationship and that it was ‘her choice to be a single mother.’
For confidential support call National Suicide Prevention Line, 1-800-273-8255
For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see www.samaritans.org for details
In Australia, call the Lifeline 24-hour crisis support on: 13 11 14
Sad news: Police outside the building where Steve lived. He is believed to have jumped to his death
Father: Bing’s daughter is Kira Kerkorian (left) – who was born following his affair with tennis player Lisa Bonder (right), who at the time was married to billionaire Kirk Kerkorian