Wolfgang Van Halen and Valerie Bertinelli Slam 'Heartless' Documentary on Eddie Van Halen's Death

By Stephen Andrew

Wolfgang Van Halen and Valerie Bertinelli are slamming what they call a "heartless" documentary about the death of Eddie Van Halen. Eddie and Bertinelli were married for many years, and Wolfgang is the only child they shared together. The pair took to social media to lambast a Reelz Channel documentary series that produced an episode about Eddie, titled Autopsy: The Last Hours Of Eddie Van Halen.

In a tweet about the documentary, Wolfgang heavily criticized the show and its network. "F— Reelz Channel, f— everyone that works on this show, and f— you if you watch it. F—ing disgusting trying to glamorize someone's death from cancer." Bertinelli, tweeted as well, calling the show "disgusting." In response, one fan tweeted back, "They don't think about celebrities as being human beings first with families who love and miss them more than the public can fathom. This should be illegal. Why don't the HIPPA laws apply even into death? It's still a medical record!"

Eddie Van Halen died on Oct. 6, 2020 — at the age of 65 — after a long battle with throat and lung cancer. Eddie had been first diagnosed with tongue cancer as far back as 2000. Not long after his death, Bertinelli mentioned that cancer eventually spread to his lungs. Wolfgang confirmed the news of his father's death in an Instagram post, writing, "I can't believe I'm having to write this, but my father, Edward Lodewijk Van Halen, has lost his long and arduous battle with cancer this morning. He was the best father I could ever ask for."

"Every moment I've shared with him on and off stage was a gift," the 29-year-old went on to write. "My heart is broken and I don't think I'll ever fully recover from this loss." Wolf concluded his statement, saying, "I love you so much, Pop." Eddie was the co-founder, primary songwriter and guitarist for Van Halen, a band that also featured his brother Alex on drums. Wolfgang later joined the band, playing bass and singing back-up vocals, in 2006. He has since stated that Van Halen will not continue without his father.

Following his father's death, Wolfgang's band, Mammoth WVH, released a self-titled album and was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Rock Song category. While he did not end up winning, as the Foo Fighters took home the award, Wolfgang was not a sore loser about the situation. "We came, we saw, but we did NOT conquer and that's ok! I got to have a wonderful night with the two most important women in my world," he said.

Wolfgang continued, "Such an honor to be nominated for the first song I ever released on my own, in a category with artists I've looked up to my entire life. I don't know if that'll ever fully set in. Pop didn't win the first time he was nominated too, so it looks like I'm following in his footsteps quite nicely. Who knows what the future holds. All I know is I'm feeling pretty damn grateful. What a wild experience this was. Thank you to [Recording Academy] for the recognition, and thank YOU for the support. Y'all mean the world to me."

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