Eric Bolling: ‘Beyond inappropriate’ for O’Reilly to bring up death of my son

Former Fox News host Eric Bolling is criticizing Bill O’Reilly for bringing up the death of Bolling’s son while giving interviews about how allegations of sexual harassment have affected his family.

Both O’Reilly and Bolling left Fox under clouds of sexual harassment complaints.

“I believe it is beyond inappropriate for anyone to bring in the tragic death of my son Eric Chase Bolling,” Bolling said in a statement Monday.

{mosads}“Just as Bill O’Reilly had wanted to shield his children from the allegations against him, I hope he will honor my request and avoid any future mentions of my son. My parting from Fox News was in no way connected to the tragic news of my son’s passing.”

In an interview with The New York Times, O’Reilly brought up Bolling’s son’s death while criticizing reports of the allegations against him at Fox. O’Reilly said what he and his family had been through had been “horrible.” 

“I urge you to think about what you put in your newspaper,” O’Reilly told The Times. “Eric Bolling’s son is dead. He’s dead because of allegations made — in my opinion and I know this to be true — against Mr. Bolling.”

Bolling’s 19-year-old son was found dead in September, hours after Bolling was let go by Fox News amid allegations that he had sexually harassed female coworkers.

O’Reilly later apologized for his remarks on Twitter:

Apologies to Eric Bolling and prayers for him and his family. The message I tried to send was that allegations harm kids. Nothing more.

— Bill O’Reilly (@BillOReilly) October 23, 2017

In his statement, Bolling said that a coroner believes his son’s death was an accident.

O’Reilly was pushed out of Fox after reports emerged that he paid $13 million to settle suits against him over improper behavior.

In a new weekend report, The New York Times said O’Reilly had reached a $32 million settlement on one complaint before Fox initially extended his contract with the network.

—Updated at 7:03 p.m.