Eric Bolling out at Fox News

Fox News host Eric Bolling is out at the network a month after being suspended over allegations that he sent female co-workers lewd messages.

“Fox News Channel is canceling The Specialists, and Eric Bolling and Fox have agreed to part ways amicably,” the network said in a statement.

“We thank Eric for his ten years of service to our loyal viewers and wish him the best of luck.”

Bolling co-hosted the relatively new “The Specialists” and hosted the weekly Saturday program “Cashin’ In” since 2013. 

Bolling was suspended following a report by the Huffington Post that at least two of his female colleagues at Fox Business and one at Fox News had received unsolicited photos of male genitalia from him.

The messages were reportedly sent years ago and on several different occasions. The Post called the images “deeply upsetting and offensive” to the women.

{mosads}

A spokesperson for Fox told The Hill on Aug. 5 that Bolling was being investigated by the Paul Weiss law firm. That’s the same firm that last year investigated former chairman and CEO Roger Ailes, who was ousted from the network just two days after the firm began investigating him over allegations of sexual harassment.

An attorney for Bolling, a former commodities trader, said after the Huffington Post story broke that he had no recollection of the messages and doesn’t believe he sent them.

“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,” his attorney said.

Bolling filed a $50 million defamation suit against Yashar Ali, the reporter who originally broke the story. 

The allegations against Bolling follow a tumultuous year for Fox News.

Top-rated host Bill O’Reilly was forced out of the network in April, less than one year after Ailes, when The New York Times reported that he paid $13 million to five different women who accused him of sexual harassment.

Overall, Fox has lost three-quarters of its primetime lineup since last September with the departures of O’Reilly, Megyn Kelly to NBC and Greta Van Susteren, who went to MSNBC in January but was canceled after six months.

With “The Specialists” being cancelled at 5 p.m., many industry watchers are speculating this could clear the way for Laura Ingraham, who is in talks with the network for her own show, to be awarded a primetime timeslot. 

One logical scenario would be for “The Five” to return to its original time of 5 p.m., and for the conservative Ingraham to go to 9 p.m. to take on MSNBC’s highly-rated liberal host Rachel Maddow in a battle of contrasting viewpoints. 

Bolling was reportedly also once in discussions with President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team about taking a role in the Commerce Department, but ultimately renewed with Fox News for a multiyear contract.

Bolling, 53, was a financial analyst for CNBC before moving to Fox in 2008. 

—Updated at 5:13 p.m.