Wolfgang Van Halen has slammed the makers of a ghoulish documentary that graphically charts his father Eddie Van Halen’s death.
The guitarist, 31, slammed ‘Autopsy: The Last Hours of Eddie Van Halen’ as “disgusting” ahead of its showing on US cable network Reelz on Sunday. (05.06.22)
He tweeted: “F*** Reelz Channel, f*** everyone that works on this show, and f*** you if you watch it. “F***ing disgusting trying to glamorise someone’s death from cancer.”
Van Halen’s fury was echoed by his mother and Eddie’s former wife Valerie Bertinelli, 62.
She said: “Good Christ this is disgusting.”
Van Halen played base in his father’s eponymously named band from 2006 until Eddie’s death from a stroke aged 65 on October 6, 2020.
Reelz’s description of the show says: “If caught early, Eddie’s disease had reasonable survival rates, so what exactly happened?
“Now renowned forensic pathologist Dr Michael Hunter will analyse every detail of his life in order to piece together what else may have been going on in his body, ultimately leading to his untimely death.”
The show description also references the musician’s struggles with alcohol addiction, commenting that “a darker undercurrent that would plague Eddie throughout his life”.
Wolfgang squashed rumours he could replace his late father in Van Halen after Eddie’s death, fuming: “Anyone peddling this s*** is not only hurting the fans, but hurting me and my family.”
Eddie started smoking and drinking aged 12, and stated that he eventually needed alcohol to function before entering rehab in 2007 and claiming a year later he was sober.
He underwent hip replacement surgery in 1999 following years of acrobatics on stage and began receiving treatment for tongue cancer in 2000, which required the removal of about a third of the organ.
He was declared cancer-free in 2002 and blamed his habit of holding metal guitar picks in his mouth for the tongue cancer.
He said in 2015: “I used metal picks – they're brass and copper – which I always held in my mouth, in the exact place where I got the tongue cancer. I mean, I was smoking and doing a lot of drugs and a lot of everything. But at the same time, my lungs are totally clear. This is just my own theory, but the doctors say it's possible.”
