Fox News host Eric Bolling was suspended Saturday following accusations that he texted photos of male genitalia to female colleagues.
Bolling is accused of sending the lewd photos to two Fox Business Network employees and another Fox News staffer several years ago, HuffPost said Friday.
“Eric Bolling has been suspended pending the results of an investigation, which is currently underway,” Fox News said.
Shortly after the announcement, Caroline Heldman, a frequent former Fox News guest, said she had many creepy encounters with Bolling.
“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 on Facebook.
“I did hundreds of appearances on Fox and Fox Business from 2008-2011, and had multiple experiences with Bolling that caused grave concern to my friends and family,” she wrote.
Heldman, a politics professor, said Bolling called her “Dr. McHottie” on air on four different occasions. She said he also gave her an icky tour of his office.
“In the brief time I was there, [he] let me know that his office was his favorite place to have sex,” she wrote. “I know other women have had similar experiences with Bolling, which means that lots of folks at Fox knew about his behavior well before 2017.”
Heldman also alleged in a separate written declaration that Fox consultant Woody Fraser dangled a job to her in exchange for sex. The declaration was signed by Heldman under penalty of perjury as part of a potential lawsuit against Fraser from other accusers, according to Mother Jones.
For its report on Bolling’s alleged genitalia messages, HuffPost talked to 14 anonymous sources.
The female employees could tell it was Bolling in the photos because of the phone number attached to the tawdry texts, HuffPost reported.
Bolling, who joined Fox News in 2008 from CNBC, hosts “Cashin’ In,” a business show that runs Saturday mornings at 11:30.
The law firm Paul Weiss will conduct the probe, according to Fox News.
Paul Weiss also handled the investigation into harassment allegations against longtime Fox anchor Bill O’Reilly, who left the network in April, and the internal investigation of Roger Ailes, the former Fox News chairman who was dismissed after at least six women described inappropriate behavior by him.
“The anonymous, uncorroborated claims are untrue and terribly unfair,” Bolling’s attorney Michael Bowe told the Associated Press in an email.
While the incidents are only accusations at this point, Bolling is the latest Fox personality to be dogged by sexual harassment claims.
Bill O’Reilly
Longtime Fox News anchor Bill O’Reilly was pushed out in April after reports he and the network quietly settled multiple lawsuits in the past few years.
Multiple women sued the “O’Reilly Factor” host, claiming he’d sexually harassed them.
O’Reilly, the network’s ratings rainmaker, took what he said was a scheduled vacation, but never returned amid growing pressure to fire him.
Bill Shine
Bill Shine, the network’s co-president, left Fox News in May after accusations of fostering a culture of misdeeds at the network.
He’d been named in several lawsuits against the company, and his departure came within weeks of O’Reilly’s.
But Shine might not be out of the job for long. He’s been floated as a possible replacement for recently fired White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci.
Roger Ailes
Founding CEO Roger Ailes left the network in July 2016 after he too was accused of sexual harassment by several women at the company. Megyn Kelly, who left Fox News in December, was among those to accuse Ailes.
Ailes, a longtime political player who died in May, reportedly left Fox News with a $40 million golden parachute.
Charles Payne
Most recently Charles Payne, who hosts “Making Money” on Fox Business News, was suspended in July for similar accusations.
Payne reportedly had an affair with a political analyst.
She accused the network of firing her when the relationship ended.
