Newsmax host, pal to former president Donald Trump… and lunchtime life saver?
Watch here to find out everything there is to know about TV personality Eric Bolling.
Certain professional athletes find a calling beyond the field with a career
in broadcasting. You may not realize it, but Eric Bolling is technically among this group.
After a successful baseball career at Rollins College, Bolling was drafted by the Pittsburgh
Pirates just as he began a fellowship at Duke University's School of Public Policy,
according to his alma mater's magazine. Obviously, the path towards punditry was already in motion,
but that didn't stop Bolling from pursuing the big leagues first. Detailing his trajectory to
the pros, which sadly ended at age 22, Bolling told Chicago Magazine in 2016,
"I got a scholarship to Rollins College in Florida and in senior year, the Pittsburgh
Pirates came to dedicate our new stadium. [...] [T]hey drafted me that year. I was only there
for a portion of the first year because I ended up blowing my rotator cuff out."
Bolling went on to detail how his shoulder injury was too severe to fix, thus ending
his MLB dreams. Dejected, Bolling returned to his native Chicago and began a long and confusing job
hunt. Eventually he landed a job in marketing with Mobil Oil, which sparked his interest in
commodities trading. A chance encounter with a CNBC reporter led to his initial TV appearance,
which then led to a regular gig on Fast Money, where he commentated on financial news.
Eric Bolling eventually left his first TV home, CNBC, for Fox Business. Having
spent a good deal of time making a fortune trading oil and gas futures on Wall Street,
Bolling's deep interest in and understanding of the financial market positioned him perfectly for
a full-time gig in the high-pressure world of Fox News' financial division. It might surprise you
to learn then, that Bolling once gave up literal millions to read to his son's preschool class.
Speaking with Benzinga News in 2010, Bolling detailed how one day,
while he was reading Spider and the Fly to his son's class,
some investments he'd made in natural gas took a seriously bad turn. Bolling told the outlet:
"I'm sitting down and we started reading [...] and my phone is buzzing off the hook,
and I can only think it's one of two things. It's either really good because
the market turned around and I'm right, or really bad, really really really bad [...]"
Still, Bolling claimed the chance to spend a little time with his son was worth the outrageous
amount of money — approximately $2 million — he lost that day. Bolling told Benzinga:
"It was a bloodbath when I got to the trading floor, an absolute bloodbath. But you know what,
I will never forget the look on his face while I was reading that book."
Eric Bolling's successful stint at Fox News came to a tabloid-worthy end in 2017 when HuffPost
broke the story that he had allegedly sent illicit photographs to female staff members. Bolling was
suspended in August 2017 when three of his female colleagues came forward with the allegations.
The news continued to worsen for Bolling when a former regular on his soon-to-be canceled show,
Caroline Heldman, claimed he'd harassed her on set.
Bolling reportedly called her, quote, "Dr. McHottie" and offered to, quote,
"fly [her] out to New York" for both work and, as was reported,
"fun." In a since-deleted Facebook post she further detailed an unsettling incident
in which Bolling had given her a tour of his office. Heldman wrote:
"[...] In the brief time I was there,
[he] let me know that his office was his favorite place to have sex."
Bolling stayed mostly mum on this issue, with his attorney stating,
"Mr. Bolling recalls no such inappropriate communications,
does not believe he sent any such communications, and will vigorously
pursue his legal remedies for any false and defamatory accusations that are made."
Within weeks of the allegations going public, however, Bolling exited Fox News. Although the
network said in a statement that it had "agreed to part ways amicably" with Bolling, The New
York Times pointed out that just months earlier, Bolling had "renewed a long-term contract" with
the cable news giant. As such, the outlet also had this characterization of the former host:
"[Eric Bolling is] the latest personality forced out of Fox
News in the wake of a sexual harassment scandal that has engulfed the network."
Eric Bolling's life changed irrevocably in 2017 when his son, Eric Chase Bolling,
died of an apparent overdose while away at college. Eric Chase was found unresponsive with
a mix of cocaine, marijuana, opioids, and Xanax in his system, according to People. Those close to
Eric Chase detailed how he'd spent the day doing various drugs before falling asleep with a female
companion, with no indication that anything was wrong. Eric broke the news via Twitter, writing,
"Adrienne and I are devastated by the loss of our beloved son Eric Chase last night.
Details still unclear. Thoughts, prayers appreciated."
Eventually, Eric Chase's autopsy showed that he had accidentally overdosed from a combination
of cocaine and fentanyl, according to The Denver Post. Almost immediately,
the elder Bolling committed himself to fighting the growing opioid epidemic. Part of that
initiative involved lobbying politicians, including then-President Donald Trump,
as well as founding the Eric Chase Foundation, which is dedicated to solving the problem.
Eric Bolling was in the headlines a lot in the months following his abrupt departure from Fox
News. Just when it seemed like things had quieted down, Bolling found himself in the midst of yet
another scandal when he publicly feuded with Bill O'Reilly. O'Reilly sparked the
beef when he told The New York Times that he believed the death of Bolling's son,
Eric Chase Bolling, was directly connected to the reporting on his father's sexual harassment
scandal. Bolling was quick to fire back, telling Emily Steel of The New York Times:
"I believe it is beyond inappropriate for anyone to bring in the tragic death of my son Eric Chase
Bolling. 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."
To O'Reilly's credit, he eventually apologized to Bolling in a tweet reading,
"Apologies to Eric Bolling and prayers for him and his family.
The message I tried to send was that allegations harm kids. Nothing more."
Bolling graciously accepted the apology.
If you keep up with your Fox News hosts then it should come as little surprise to you
that Eric Bolling is thick as thieves with former president Donald Trump. Bolling was
an adamant supporter of Trump's throughout his presidency, and the pair evidently grew closer
in 2017 following the death of Bolling's son. In a July 2020 interview with Trump,
Bolling revealed that the then-president reached out to him directly several times
to check on his and his wife's well-being after their son's death. Bolling declared:
"I don't think people see the heart that Donald Trump has."
But Bolling had been singing Trump's praises long before that, too. Following his ouster
from Fox News, Bolling put his newfound free time to use towards a good cause.
Never wanting another parent to experience the loss he had, Bolling began campaigning
for stricter laws surrounding prescription drug abuse. In doing so, he praised Trump's
administration for being, quote, "very strong on the enforcement side of it."
However, Bolling told The Hill in 2018 that he intended to advise the president
that his administration also needed to treat the "recovery side" by putting money towards
better recovery facilities and working to remove the stigma surrounding addiction.
Bolling also said that he had already been working directly with Trump on this initiative,
and that he would continue to do so in the coming days.
After his messy exit from Fox News in 2017, Bolling took a bit of time to figure out his next
move, occasionally popping up as a commentator on various networks. Things took a very sharp
turn for Bolling one day in 2020 when he lost his temper while on a live segment for the BBC.
According to Forbes, the trouble started when Bolling criticized the MLB for pulling an all
star game out of Atlanta because of voting rights issues in Georgia. Bolling reportedly
claimed that the economic loss would disproportionately hurt people of color.
Another guest on the show, Aisha Mills did not like that one bit.
"How dare you try to act like you are somehow a proponent of Black people and businesses
just to make a point and to try to create a wedge."
Mills went on to call Bolling's comments both "ignorant" and "disrespectful." That
did not sit well with Bolling who got up and stormed off set during the live segment.
"That's disgusting. I'm done," Bolling said prior to bailing on the discussion.
"I am nowhere near anything you are painting me to be, and the problem with American politics
is exactly that. Because I'm white, you think I'm racist? That's BS. I'm done."
Bolling briefly returned but stomped off again when Mills refused to apologize.
Eric Bolling gets a bit of a bad rap. After all, he's stormed offset, left a high paying
job amid sexual harassment allegations, and publicly feuded with Bill O'Reilly.
Thankfully for Bolling, the news about him isn't all bad. In fact, one of Bolling's colleagues
even credits the controversial pundit with saving his life. On a 2011 episode of The Five,
Bob Beckel detailed how Bolling and Roger Ailes saved his life during a work lunch.
"I couldn't breathe at all. And
then the boss of bosses here at Fox, Roger Ailes, stood up and gave me the Heimlich."
However, as Beckel explained, Ailes couldn't get his arm all the way around him. Still,
Ailes managed to loosen up the blockage in Beckel's throat
just enough for Bolling to step in and save the day.
"And then my brother here saved my existence, because he got it out."
As for what exactly "it" was, it was some shrimp Beckel ate too quickly.
It should come as little surprise that, after years on Fox Business and Fox News,
Eric Bolling has built up quite a net worth. So, how much is Bolling worth?
According to Celebrity Net Worthy, as of 2021, he's racked up about $25 million.
It's got us wondering how exactly Bolling spends all that dough. Like most multimillionaires,
Bolling likes to invest his money in property. Case-in-point: in 2021,
Bolling made waves when he listed his beachfront home in New Jersey for a cool $3.2 million.
The home, which Bolling and his wife purchased for $2 million a few years earlier, comes with a
whopping 75 feet of private beach, a jacuzzi tub, and crystal clear views of the beach, per NJ.com.
Just because Bolling wanted to sell the beach house, doesn't mean he wanted to get out of
Jersey. He and his wife also own a massive home in Northern Jersey, per the outlet.
When Eric Bolling left Fox News amid professional scandal and personal grief,
it was the beginning of one of the most trying periods of his life. But as he told
Benzinga News back in 2010, he thrives in a "high pressure, competitive" environment.
And so, it was eventually time for the conservative commentator to get back to work.
Bolling spent some time bopping around appearing as a talking head on various networks,
including a stint on Sinclair Broadcast Group, where he hosted a show called
America This Week with Eric Bolling, but nothing seemed like the right fit.
Finally, in 2021, Bolling found his forever home. In June, Newsmax announced that Bolling
had signed on to host a new show called, Eric Bolling: The Balance, according to Deadline.
Bolling's decision to join Newsmax came as little surprise to those in the know.
The network is helmed by former president Donald Trump's close friend, Chris Ruddy,
who has recruited other conservative pundits to join the team in recent months.
As for Bolling, he couldn't imagine a better fit,
citing their similar feelings towards the state of the nation. Bolling said in a statement:
"Like myself, Newsmax is concerned with the direction that Big Tech and
Big Corporate Media have taken journalism and our nation."
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