Eric Chase Bolling, son of former Fox News host Eric Bolling, reportedly died on Friday night, shortly after Fox News announced it would be ending its relationship with his father. The cause of death is currently unclear.
Eric Bolling’s son, who went by “Chase” on Facebook, was his only child. According to Chase Bolling’s Facebook profile, he was studying economics at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
The death was first publicly reported by Yashar Ali, the reporter who investigated Eric Bolling’s alleged misconduct for The Huffington Post. Eric Bolling himself acknowledged the tragic event soon after, describing himself and wife Adrienne as “devastated.”
Adrienne and I are devastated by the loss of our beloved son Eric Chase last night. Details still unclear. Thoughts, prayers appreciated.
— 🇺🇸 ERIC BOLLING 🇺🇸 (@ericbolling) September 9, 2017
Multiple sources also confirmed Chase Bolling’s death to Mediaite, with one source initially citing the cause of death as suicide. TMZ also initially reported the death as a suicide, but now suggests the cause was a drug overdose.
Eric Bolling has stated that “authorities have informed us there is no sign of self harm at this point.”
Authorities have informed us there is no sign of self harm at this point. Autopsy will be next week. Please respect our grieving period.
— 🇺🇸 ERIC BOLLING 🇺🇸 (@ericbolling) September 9, 2017
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The elder Bolling’s departure from Fox News – effectively a humiliating firing – came after a flood of negative public scrutiny. A report by Ali in July alleged, based on interviews with more than a dozen sources, that Bolling sent sexually explicit images to female coworkers.
Fox News quickly suspended Bolling, a former commodities trader whose career in media began with business shows including CNBC’s Fast Money. He later became a cohost of The Five on Fox News, expanding his purview to politics.
Bolling’s alleged misconduct came during the tenure of Roger Ailes, under what has been described as a rampant culture of sexism at Fox News. Ailes’ tenure came to an end in July of last year, and a series of high-profile departures followed, including that of Fox’s leading host, Bill O’Reilly.
Ali, based on his reporting on the elder Bolling, said on Twitter that Eric Bolling was a devoted father. Many members of the news media from across the political spectrum also expressed their condolences on Twitter.
Eric + his son. You can just tell from this pic that he adored him. The one thing I heard from people consistently: he was a devoted dad. https://t.co/S8Dhgp6bH7
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) September 9, 2017
https://twitter.com/seanhannity/status/906584297569746944
Guy-wrenching news about #EricBolling 19-year old only son Eric. Erica and I weep for the Bolling family This is horrible, our condolences
— Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) September 9, 2017
So awful. My heart goes out to Eric and his family. Tragedy: Eric Bolling Son Dies | Mediaite https://t.co/8DvUNqqi9M
— Don Lemon (@donlemon) September 9, 2017
Fox News released the following statement Sunday afternoon: “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.”
Update 9/10/17: This story has been updated to reflect Eric Bolling’s tweets on his son’s death and updated reporting on the possible cause of death.
