Valerie Bertinelli And Wolfgang Van Halen Are Beyond Fuming Over A New Documentary
An upcoming documentary about late rock legend Eddie Van Halen is getting some heat from his family members. After an announcement about the new Reelz special, "Autopsy: The Last Hours of Eddie Van Halen," the "Jump" guitarist's son and ex-wife are voicing their displeasure on Twitter.
Eddie's son Wolfgang Van Halen quote-tweeted an article about the documentary, writing, "F**k @ReelzChannel, f**k everyone that works on this show, and f**k you if you watch it." His mother, actor Valerie Bertinelli replied to the tweet, writing, "Good Christ this is disgusting." Bertinelli and Eddie were married from 1981 to 2007, having met at one of Van Halen's concerts. Wolfgang became a musician himself, officially joining his father's band as their bassist in 2006 until Van Halen disbanded in 2020.
Reactions to Wolfgang and Valerie Bertinelli's tweets were mixed. Many supported their condemnation of the documentary, but others thought it was much ado about nothing. The "Autopsy: The Last Hours of ..." series is in its 13th season, and most previous episodes haven't received this kind of backlash. In defense of the show, one viewer wrote, "I love that show. The stories are handled respectfully ... That being said, I can understand your not wanting for dad's final hours reenacted for entertainment/educational purposes."
Plenty of documentaries have been made about late celebrities before, but there's one particular reason this one is rubbing the iconic guitarist's family members the wrong way.
The new Eddie Van Halen documentary allegedly exploits his health issues
Eddie Van Halen died from a stroke in 2020, and he also struggled with addiction for several years prior. The "Autopsy" documentary seemingly connects the two, speculating that Eddie's past drug abuse led to the worsening of his cancer, and it might have been survivable otherwise, per TooFab. Wolfgang Van Halen wrote on Twitter, "F**king disgusting trying to glamorize someone's death from cancer. Pathetic and heartless."
After the backlash, Reelz released a statement to Page Six defending the show, saying "Autopsy: The Last Hours of... responsibly explores the circumstances of the passing of well known and genuinely loved celebrities who the public cares about immensely." The statement continued, "The Reelz series generates much feedback from our viewers ranging from medical professionals who praise its scientific accuracy, fans who tell us it provides closure or that they have become more proactive for the benefit of their health and many who gain helpful perspective of health issues that might not otherwise receive attention ..."
Whether or not the show is as exploitative as Eddie's family predicts, it's surprising that it's taken this long for families of deceased subjects previously covered on "Autopsy" to publicly take offense throughout its 13 seasons. Either way, as Eddie only just died in late 2020, it's understandable that his family thinks it's too soon.