The son of Former Fox News host Eric Bolling was enduring ’emotional torture’ over the sexual harassment claims against father before he was found dead, it has been revealed.
Eric Chase Bolling, 19, was ‘destroyed’ after his father parted ways with the cable giant amid claims he sent unsolicited photos of male genitalia to colleagues, though the circumstances surrounding the teen’s death remain a mystery.
The University of Colorado Boulder student was found dead in his bed on Friday afternoon, with the covers over him in a normal position.
The working theory is that he died from an overdose, but sources close to the investigation told TMZ that there was no suicide note, and no pill bottles or drug paraphernalia were found at the scene.
Eric Chase Bolling (seen right with his father a November 2016 photograph) was ‘destroyed’ after his father parted ways with the cable giant amid claims he sent unsolicited photos of male genitalia to colleagues
The University of Colorado Boulder student was found dead in his bed on Friday afternoon, with the covers over him in a normal position. The working theory is that he died from an overdose, but there was no suicide note found at the scene
Sources close to Bolling Sr said that the Fox News host parted ways with the cable giant partly because his son was having a hard time handling the sexual harassment allegations against his father.
Eric Sr found out about his son’s death just two hours after confirming his exit deal with Fox.
He said the cause of his son’s death is under investigation but that authorities told him there was ‘no sign of self harm at this point’ and that an autopsy was planned next week.
Eric Chase was the only child of Bolling, 54, and his wife, Adrienne
Bolling confirmed the tragic passing of the University of Colorado Boulder student on Saturday afternoon. In a tweet, he wrote that he and his wife were distraught.
‘Adrienne and I are devastated by the loss of our beloved son Eric Chase last night. Details still unclear. Thoughts, prayers appreciated’ wrote Bolling.
The shocking news was first reported in a tweet by journalist Yashar Ali, who also broke the story last month about alleged lewd texts sent by Bolling to female staff members at Fox News.
Bolling confirmed the tragic passing of the University of Colorado Boulder student on Saturday afternoon. In a tweet, he wrote that he and his wife were distraught
Confirmation: The tragic death of Eric and Adrienne Bolling’s only son was confirmed by the former Fox news host in a tweet
Initial findings: Bolling later tweeted that his son’s death did not appear to have been from self-harm
Bolling insists the allegations are false and has filed a $50million lawsuit against Ali.
‘Very sad news, Eric Bolling’s son, who was only 19, died last night,’ wrote Ali earlier on Saturday afternon. ‘By all accounts, Eric was incredibly devoted to his son. Heartbreaking.’
Fox News released a statement on Saturday, saying: ‘We are very saddened to hear of the passing of Eric Bolling’s son.
‘Eric Chase was a wonderful young man and our thoughts and prayers are with the entire Bolling family.’
President Donald Trump retweeted condolences from Kellyanne Conway and Sean Hannity that lamented the teen’s death.
Conway wrote on Saturday: ‘Love and prayers for friends Adrienne & Eric Bolling. May Eric Chase know eternal peace.’
Hannity tweeted: ‘@ericbolling To my dear friend, please know we all love you, will be here for you and your family.’
The tragic death took place one day after it came to light that Bolling agreed to leave the network following an investigation into claims of sexual harassment.
Three of Bolling’s colleagues claimed that he sent them unsolicited photos of male genitalia via text message.
Sources close to Bolling Sr said that the Fox News host parted ways with the cable giant partly because his son was having a hard time handling the sexual harassment allegations against his father
Eric Bolling’s son Eric Chase is pictured here in 2015 before his prom. The caption from his father on the snap read ‘My guy is growing up’
The rising Fox News host was suspended during the investigation and left the network where he has anchored several different shows for the past 10 years.
‘Fox News Channel is canceling The Specialists, and Eric Bolling and Fox have agreed to part ways amicably,’ a network spokesperson told DailyMail.com.
‘We thank Eric for his ten years of service to our loyal viewers and wish him the best of luck.’
After the allegations emerged back in August, Bolling had maintained his innocence and tweeted: ‘I will continue to fight against these false smear attacks! THANK YOU FOR CONTINUED SUPPORT’.
The network began investigating Bolling, who is married, after two of the women who claimed to have received the photo worked with Bolling at Fox Business Network, while a third woman works at Fox News, Huffington Post reported.
The women all claim they did not solicit the messages and that they knew the message was from Bolling, who has been married to his wife since 1997, because they recognized the phone number from previous informal and work-related interactions.
The Huffington Post reported that the messages were sent several years ago on separate occasions.
As of Saturday afternoon, there was no official confirmation as to the cause of death. Officials are performing an autopsy on Eric Chase’s body
After receiving the messages reportedly from Bolling, the women told their colleagues that they were deeply offended and upset.
One of the women replied to the 54-year-old anchor instructing him to never send her photos of male genitalia ever again; he reportedly did not respond.
A dozen sources told Huffington Post that at least two of Bolling’s female colleagues at Fox Business and one at Fox News received the photos of male genitalia from Bolling.
The identities of the women have not been released to the public. Bolling had previously denied all allegations against him.
It was announced last month that Bolling is reportedly suing the Huffington Post reporter who broke the story claiming that he had sent several female co-workers lewd photos.
Ali tweeted last month that he is being personally sued by Bolling for $50million in damages for the story which led to the Fox reporter’s suspension on Saturday.
‘It’s important to note that Bolling’s summons does not include HuffPost – he is coming after me personally. I’m a big boy…but very telling,’ Ali tweeted on Wednesday.
Yashar Ali, a contributor to New York magazine and the Huffington Post, broke the news on Saturday that the 19-year-old son of former Fox News host Eric Bolling had died
Ali was the reporter who initially broke the story in Huffington Post last month about the alleged lewd texts sent by Bolling to colleagues at Fox News, resulting in an internal investigation
‘Not going to stop reporting on Eric Bolling or anyone else. I’ve had family members killed/jailed in Iran, a lawsuit isn’t going to scare me,’ he added, writing that he ‘stand(s) by my reporting + will protect my sources.’
Bolling is represented by Michael Bowe – a lawyer from the same firm as Marc Kasowitz, President Trump’s personal attorney until July.
The defamation lawsuit seeks $50 million in damages for ‘the defendant’s efforts to injure the plaintiff’s reputation through the intentional and/or highly reckless publication of actionable false and misleading statements about the plaintiff’s conduct and character.
‘As a result of the defendant’s actions, the plaintiff has been substantially harmed,’ the summons sent to Ali stated.
Since the allegations emerged against Bolling, a Fox News guest, who claimed in the past she was sexually harassed by Bill O’Reilly, came forward to claim she was also on the receiving end of unwanted advances by Bolling.
Caroline Heldman, a 44-year-old Associate Professor of Politics at Occidental College in Los Angeles, made ‘hundreds’ of appearances on Fox between 2008 and 2011, many of which were on Bolling’s show Bulls & Bears.
Bolling and his wife, Adrienne (above together), have been married since 1997. They have one son together, Chase
The rising Fox News host was suspended during the investigation and will now leave the network where he has anchored several different shows for the past 10 years
Between appearances, she claimed Bolling, 54, called and texted her to invite her to New York to ‘have fun’. On one occasion when she was in town, he took her into his office and told her it was his favorite place to have sex, she said.
He called her ‘Dr. McHottie’ on air and, she said, would sometimes call her afterwards to apologize ‘and then do it again’.
Heldman made her accusations in a lengthy Facebook post on Saturday in which she also claimed that ‘several other women’ received similar treatment from him.
‘My only surprise is that it took this long for people to come forward about Bolling’s behavior, which has been wildly inappropriate for years,’ she wrote.
Bolling denies ever making inappropriate and unsolicited contact with her.
His attorney Michael Bowe told DailyMail.com: ‘Mr. Bolling never had any interactions with Ms. Heldman of a sexual nature, and any such accusation would be false and defamatory.’
The father-of-one co-hosted the Fox News show The Specialists and hosted Cashin’ In.
Since the allegations emerged, Caroline Heldman (above), a Fox News guest, who says she was sexually harassed by Bill O’Reilly, came forward to claim she was also on the receiving end of unwanted advances by Bolling
Heldman claims she was the victim of unsolicited sexual advances from Bolling between 2008 and 2011 when she would regularly appear on the network. During a 2011 appearance on Bolling’s show Bulls & Bears, he referred to her as ‘the great Dr. McHottie’ (above)
Heldman made the accusations in a lengthy Facebook post after Bolling was suspended
His show The Specialist only just premiered in May. He previously served as one of five anchors on the network’s show, The Five.
Prior to joining the network in 2008, Bolling worked at CNBC and was a former commodities trader.
In the past year, the network has faced numerous accusations of sexual harassment and assault by Fox Business and Fox News on-air talent and executives.
Former Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes resigned last year after ex-Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson filed a lawsuit accusing him of sexual harassment.
Numerous current and former Fox News hosts have accused Ailes of harassment since he was forced out of the company.
Twenty-First Century Fox paid out $50million to settle sexual harassment and discrimination lawsuits at Fox News in the last 12 months.
The figure was disclosed in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.