Suspended Fox News Host Eric Bolling Files Lawsuit Against Journalist Behind Alleged Sexting Report

‘Eric Bolling Is Suing Me for Defamation – $50 Million in Damages. I Stand by My Reporting + Will Protect My Sources’ Reporter Says

Fox News host Eric Bolling reportedly has initiated a $50 million lawsuit against the freelance reporter whose article apparently led to his suspension from the conservative cable news giant this weekend, according to a report in Politico. Yashar Ali, who has delivered reporting for New York Magazine, Mother Jones, and HuffPost, posted to Twitter that he has been served a summons.

He also noted that Bolling is not suing HuffPost, which published Ali’s article.

Ali says he will not stop reporting:

A CNN reporter posted a screenshot of the lawsuit to Twitter:

Ali confirmed its validity.

Politico’s Hadas Gold, who first reported news of the lawsuit after Ali posted his tweets, explains that Ali “reported on Friday that several years ago Bolling sent lewd text messages that included photographs of male genitalia to two female colleagues at Fox. The next day Bolling was suspended and Fox launched an investigation by the same law firm that handled probes into the conduct of former host Bill O’Reilly and former Fox chairman Roger Ailes.”

After the initial report, Bolling said, via his lawyer, that he “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.”

On Wednesday, Bolling filed a “summons with notice” in New York State Supreme Court against Ali, seeking $50 million in damages for defamation. Ali must respond within 20 days, demanding that Bolling file a complaint, after which Bolling will have 20 days to file his response before the suit goes forward.

Gold notes that “Bolling is represented by Michael Bowe from the same law firm as Marc Kasowitz, who was President Donald Trump’s personal attorney until last month.”

Variety adds that “Ali’s report cited two unnamed women who said they received unsolicited photos of male genitalia from Bolling. Ali also spoke with a dozen people who had either seen the messages or spoken to the women about them.”

Ali was first to report that MSNBC was in talks to hire Hugh Hewitt and give him his own show, which it did.

Here’s a recent Fox News segment Bolling hosted:

UPDATE:
Ali, who has a strong Twitter following, just added this tweet, which says a lot about him.

UPDATE II:
Editor in Chief of HuffPost, which published the original article on Bolling:

 

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