This Friday, Fox News announced that it’s firing host Eric Bolling in the wake of allegations that he sexually harassed several of his female colleagues. Additionally, Fox is also canceling The Specialists, which was the show Bolling co-hosted.
“Fox News Channel is canceling ‘The Specialists,’ and Eric Bolling and Fox have agreed to part ways amicably,” the network said in in a statement. “We thank Eric for his ten years of service to our loyal viewers and wish him the best of luck.”
Back in August, Yashir Ali of The Huffington Post reported that multiple sources told him Bolling sent unsolicited lewd text messages to female colleagues. Bolling denied the allegations, which sparked an investigation. He then sued Ali for defamation and still hasn’t withdrawn his $50 million suit.
I will continue to fight against these false smear attacks! THANK YOU FOR CONTINUED SUPPORT
— 🇺🇸 ERIC BOLLING 🇺🇸 (@ericbolling) August 9, 2017
As The Daily Beast pointed out, Bolling’s 10-year tenure at Fox was marked by controversy and questionable comments and behavior, including “casual on-air sexism, racism, and the unabashed dabbling in debunked conspiracy theories.”
Bolling was among the first Fox News personalities to publicly promote the debunked conspiracy theory that President Obama’s birth certificate was a fraud and that Obama was actually born in Kenya. In one particularly notorious segment of his long-ago-canceled Fox Business Network show, Follow the Money, Bolling and anti-Islam activist Pamela Geller combed over a poster-board print of the then-president’s birth certificate with a green laser-pointer, alleging parts of it were digitally manipulated.
During a broadcast where Bolling was discussing former President Obama’s budget plan, he asked, “How does increasing taxes count as spending cuts in your world, Mr. Obama? Maybe in Kenya, but certainly not here.” When Obama met with the president of Gambia in 2011, Bolling said, “It’s not the first time he’s had a hoodlum in the hizzouse,” adding, “So what’s with all the hoods in the hizzie?” In 2o12, Bolling addressed Rep. Maxine Waters, who is black, and said, “Congresswoman, you saw what happened to Whitney Houston. Step away from the crack pipe.”
Fox News has cut ties with Eric Bolling. Here's a look back at some of his most racist and sexist moments: https://t.co/WI1WemdpAw pic.twitter.com/Xexo0krICz
— Media Matters (@mmfa) September 8, 2017
The Daily Beast has a more expansive recounting of Bolling’s behavior at Fox, which you can read here.
Featured image via screen grab
