Eric Bolling: Bill O’Reilly’s Comments About His Dead Son Are ‘Beyond Inappropriate’

“Just as Bill O’Reilly had wanted to shield his children from the allegations against him, I hope he will honor my request to avoid any future mentions of my son,” former Fox News personality says

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Eric Bolling has a message for his former Fox News colleague Bill O’Reilly: Leave my dead son out of it.

Bolling, who parted ways with Fox News in September following an investigation into claims of sexual harassment, gave O’Reilly a dressing-down after O’Reilly suggested to the New York Times that Bolling’s scandal might have played a part in the former “The Specialists” host son’s death.

“I believe it is beyond inappropriate for anyone to bring in the tragic death of my son Eric Chase Bolling,” the elder Bolling said in a statement tweeted by the Times’ Emily Steel, who spoke to O’Reilly. “Just as Bill O’Reilly had wanted to shield his children from the allegations against him, I hope he will honor my request to 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. The coroner has in fact indicated to us that they believe it was an accident.”

Bolling continued, “Unlike others who left Fox News amid public allegations and extensive investigations, I parted ways with Fox News in an amicable way and any reference to a firing is fully wrong. I have been working on new collaborations which I will be announcing in the next few months.”

O’Reilly, who parted ways with Fox News in April amid sexual harassment allegations leveled against him, spoke to Steel and her colleague Michael S. Schmidt about the allegations, stating, “It’s horrible what I went through, horrible what my family went through.”

While speaking to the Times, O’Reilly also suggested that Bolling’s son, who died in September at age 19 after Bolling’s split with Fox News, perished as a result of the allegations against his father.

“I urge you to think about what you put in your newspaper. 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.”

After Bolling’s statement was made public, O’Reilly apologized to his former colleague via 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,” O’Reilly wrote. “Eric Bolling is a stand up guy who deserves the respect I have for him.”

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