Fox News' Eric Bolling 'Kidding' about George Clooney Being Gay

A pundit for Fox News had to backtrack his comments during a broadcast after he “joked” about A-list celebrity George Clooney being gay.

Eric Bolling is hardly a stranger to over the top commentary. Some might even argue that the whole point of his show. Of course, one might be inclined to argue that’s media punditry in general (and one would probably be correct). His most recent remarks come in the wake of Clooney’s engagement announcement.

Find someone who makes you laugh and you’ll have a great life….It’s clear, though. George Clooney’s gay. Now, he watches the show….Let me explain. For all the ladies out there who think he’s amazing, just admit it. He’s either gay or he’s married, just get over it. Move on, there’s got to be somebody else.

It didn’t go down well, with one of his co-hosts actually gasping, and at least one other trying to jump in to protest. And just what is Bolling try to say anyway? That Clooney’s “lady-fans” can no longer consider him to be the end-all, be-all of celebrity dreamboats, that he is, in fact, flawed because he is either engaged or gay?

And someone off-screen didn’t seem pleased with Bolling’s comments either. About half a minute before the end of the segment, the pundit mentioned that “they” had ordered him to clarify his remarks.

Wait, wait: They want me to make sure I point out that I was kidding about Clooney—get it? He’s either gay or married, so he’s off the market, so stop dreaming about George Clooney? That was the point.

Apparently the off-screen “they” wasn’t fully happy with this comment either, and so the pundit had to clarify his, uh, clarification.

I have to do this again, I have to clarify the clarification. I was kidding about the George Clooney thing. He’s married—he’s off the market.

Except Clooney isn’t even married yet, and does anyone else want to talk about this whole idea of people being “off the market?” There’s a whole piece on objectification right there… For another time perhaps.

However, it’s pretty unlikely that Clooney is going to pay any attention to the remarks by Bolling. This is hardly the first time the actor has had to deal with rumors about his sexuality. And as he said a couple of years back, he pretty much doesn’t care.

I think it’s funny, but the last thing you’ll ever see me do is jump up and down, saying, “These are lies!” That would be unfair and unkind to my good friends in the gay community. I’m not going to let anyone make it seem like being gay is a bad thing. My private life is private, and I’m very happy in it. Who does it hurt if someone thinks I’m gay? I’ll be long dead and there will still be people who say I was gay. I don’t give a shit.

Meanwhile, Bolling goes back to being a cable news pundit most people have never heard of, and Clooney continues to be a globally known celebrity. And awesome. Also awesome. Something Eric Bolling is most definitely not.