Eric Bolling was recently suspended from his role at Fox News after the Huffington Post reported last week that the New Jersey resident had sent "an unsolicited photo of male genitalia via text message to at least two colleagues at Fox Business and one colleague at Fox News".
On Wednesday afternoon, Yashar Ali, who authored the HuffPost piece tweeted that Bolling is now suing him for defamation.
"Eric Bolling has been suspended pending the results of an investigation, which is now underway", a Fox News spokesperson said in a statement.
As Ali's court notice began circulating on Wednesday, Bolling also tweeted: "I will continue to fight against these false smear attacks!" On the following day, he was suspended from the network and a former Fox guest wrote a lengthy Facebook post chronicling her unsettling encounters with Bolling. "We stand by his reporting", a spokesperson for the website told BuzzFeed News.
The Fox News host is being represented by Kasowitz Benson Torres, the same law firm that has long represented President Donald Trump.
Bolling has vehemently denied the accusations, with his Bowe speaking on his behalf and saying in a statement to the Huffington Post: "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".
Bolling, who previously co-hosted "The Five", until last weekend served as a host of the new Fox News show "The Specialists" and the weekly Saturday program, "Cashin' In".
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The female employees said they knew it came from Bolling because of the phone number used in the message, with The Huffington Post citing more that dozen sources in their report.
Ali was first to report that MSNBC was in talks to hire Hugh Hewitt and give him his own show, which it did. Bolling's attorney, Michael Bowe, has said, "The anonymous, uncorroborated claims are untrue and terribly unfair". The other two, she claims, were former Fox News host Bill O'Reilly and current consultant Woody Fraser.
"We stand by his reporting", HuffPost editor-in-chief Lydia Polgreen tweeted.
The allegations against Bolling follow a tumultuous year for Fox News. "Thank you." And he added, "I look forward to clearing my name asap.".
The Hill has reached out to Fox News and HuffPost for comment.
"Overwhelmed by all the support I have received".
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