Jesse Watters

Jesse Watters
Born (1978-07-09) July 9, 1978
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Alma mater Trinity College
Occupation Political commentator
Years active 2002–present
Spouse(s) Noelle Inguagiato Watters

Jesse Watters (born July 9, 1978)[1] is an American conservative political commentator on the Fox News Channel. He frequently appeared on the political talk show The O'Reilly Factor and is known for his man-on-the-street interviews, featured in his segment of the show, "Watters' World". In January 2017, Watters became the host of his weekly Watters' World show, and in April 2017, he became a co-host of the roundtable series The Five.

Early life

Watters was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, growing up in the Germantown and later East Falls neighborhoods.[2] He attended the William Penn Charter School through junior year, then moved with his family to Long Island in New York.[2] In 2001, he graduated from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, with a B.A. in History.[3]

Career

After college, Watters began work as a production assistant at Fox News.[4] In 2003, he moved to the production staff of The O’Reilly Factor,[5] and in 2004 he began to appear on air in segments of O'Reilly's show.[6]

On June 11, 2014, Watters debuted on the Fox News show, Outnumbered. He occasionally appears as a guest co-host. On November 20, 2015, Watters debuted his own monthly Fox News program, Watters' World.[7] He is characterized as an "ambush journalist",[8][9][10] Watters has said, "I try to make it enjoyable for the person I'm interviewing. We always come away from the interview all smiles, for the most part. And it's always fun to come back and look at the footage and say, 'Oh my gosh, what just happened?'"[2] In January 2017, Watters' World became a weekly show, being aired every Saturday at 8 pm EDT.[11][12]

Watters is also a guest on The Spin Stops Here Tour 2017 with Bill O'Reilly and Dennis Miller.[13]

In April 2017, Watters became a co-host of the roundtable series, The Five.

Controversies

Chinatown segment

In October 2016, Watters was criticized for a segment of "Watters' World" that was widely considered racist toward Asian Americans.[14][15][16] In New York City's Chinatown, Watters asked Chinese Americans if they knew karate, if he should bow before he greets them, or if their watches were stolen.[15][17] Throughout the segment, the 1974 song "Kung Fu Fighting" plays in the background, and the interviews are interspersed with references to martial arts and clips of Watters getting a foot massage and playing with nunchucks.[16][17] New York City mayor Bill de Blasio denounced Watters' segment as "vile, racist behavior" that "has no place in our city".[18][19] Numerous other lawmakers and journalists, including Asian Americans Mazie Hirono and Judy Chu, also condemned Watters.[20] The segment was also criticized by the Asian American Journalists Association, which issued a statement saying: "We should be far beyond tired, racist stereotypes and targeting an ethnic group for humiliation and objectification on the basis of their race."[21]

On October 5, Watters tweeted what Variety's Will Thorne called a "non-apology" about the segment. In the two tweets, Watters stated: "My man-on-the-street interviews are meant to be taken as tongue-in-cheek and I regret if anyone found offense. ... As a political humorist, the Chinatown segment was intended to be a light piece, as all Watters World segments are."[22][23][24] Some have argued that despite the Chinatown segment, other news segments are often tinged with an unusual focus on crimes committed by Blacks and Hispanics; a common tactic among those who engage in Dog-whistle politics.

Ivanka Trump comments

In April 2017, two days after joining The Five as co-host, Watters made an on-air comment about Ivanka Trump that was highly criticized as lewd. After viewing footage of Trump speaking on a panel about female entrepreneurship, Watters commented: "So I don’t really get what’s going on here, but I really liked how she was speaking into that microphone.” Some people describe him as mimicking the stimulation of oral sex with a hand gesture as he says this. [25] [26] After the clip of the incident had been shared widely on social media, Watters said that the comment was not sexual, saying in a statement: "During the break we were commenting on Ivanka's voice and how it was low and steady and resonates like a smooth jazz radio DJ...This was in no way a joke about anything else."[27]

Personal life

Watters is registered to vote as a member of New York's Conservative Party.[28] He is married to Noelle Inguagiato Watters.[1] They are parents to twin girls.[29] According to news accounts published in March 2018, Noelle Watters filed for divorce in October 2017, after learning her husband had an affair with a 25-year-old producer working on his show.[29] Watters informed the network of his relationship shortly after Noelle filed divorce papers.[29] The producer was transferred to The Ingraham Angle, and she and Watters continued to date.[29]

References

  1. 1 2 Cook, John (April 24, 2009). "Ambushing Bill O'Reilly's Ambusher". Gawker.com. Archived from the original on March 26, 2016. Retrieved June 6, 2016. Watters was born in July 1978.
  2. 1 2 3 Gray, Ellen (December 19, 2015). "Fox News guy is our true-blue homey". Philadelphia Daily News. Archived from the original on June 6, 2016. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Jesse Watters '01 Shares Stories and Advice from a Career in Television". Trinity College. May 4, 2015. Archived from the original on June 7, 2016. Retrieved June 7, 2016.
  4. ↑ "Biography, Jesse Watters". foxnews.com/. New York, NY: Fox News. Retrieved May 22, 2017.
  5. ↑ Nick, Vadala (January 6, 2017). "Fox News expands Philly native Jesse Watters' 'Watters' World' to weekly show". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia, PA.
  6. ↑ DeSoto, Randy (April 19, 2016). "Now He's The Star Of 'Watters' World' But First He Had To Earn O'Reilly's Trust". Western Journalism. Phoenix, AZ.
  7. ↑ Joyella, Mark (November 11, 2015). "Fox News to Debut Series of 'Watters World' Specials". Adweek. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
  8. ↑ Bond, Paul (October 25, 2010). "Ambush-Journalist Confronts NPR CEO About Firing of Juan Williams". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on November 14, 2015. Retrieved August 16, 2015.
  9. ↑ "Jesse Watters Ambushes Mayor Who's Suing Residents Over Their Christmas Lights". Fox News. December 19, 2015. Archived from the original on January 27, 2016. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
  10. ↑ Stelter, Brian (April 16, 2009). "Gotcha TV: Crews Stalk Bill O'Reilly's Targets". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 6, 2016. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
  11. ↑ Kludt, Tom (January 5, 2017). "Jesse Watters: Bill O'Reilly sidekick gets own show at Fox News". CNN. Retrieved May 14, 2017.
  12. ↑ Tani, Maxwell (January 5, 2017). "Jesse Watters Scores Weekly 'Watters' World' Show on Fox News". Business Insider. Retrieved May 14, 2017.
  13. ↑ O'Reilly, Bill. "Bill O'Reilly: Upcoming Appearances". www.billoreilly.com. Retrieved 2017-01-04.
  14. ↑ Fox News (3 October 2016). "Watters' World: Chinatown edition". Retrieved 31 October 2016 – via YouTube.
  15. 1 2 Stack, Liam (October 6, 2016). "Fox Reporter Accused of Racism for Chinatown Interviews Expresses 'Regret'". The New York Times. Retrieved October 6, 2016.
  16. 1 2 Kirell, Andrew (October 6, 2016). "Why Fox's Racist, Sexist Frat Boy Jesse Watters Will Always Win". The Daily Beast. Retrieved October 6, 2016.
  17. 1 2 Levitz, Eric (October 5, 2016). "The O'Reilly Factor Takes a Trip to Chinatown. Racism Ensues". New York Magazine. Retrieved October 6, 2016.
  18. ↑ Scanlon, Kate (October 6, 2016). "NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio: Keep Jesse Watters off TV after 'racist' segment". TheBlaze. Retrieved October 6, 2016.
  19. ↑ Flood, Brian (October 6, 2016). "NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio Wants 'Vile,' 'Racist' Jesse Watters Off TV After Disastrous Chinatown Segment". TheWrap. Retrieved October 6, 2016.
  20. ↑ Suen, Brennan (October 6, 2016). "Lawmakers Condemn "Vile" And "Xenophobic" O'Reilly Factor Chinatown Segment". Media Matters for America. Retrieved October 6, 2016.
  21. ↑ Cheung, Paul (2016-10-25). "AAJA demands Fox News apologize for offensive Chinatown segment; network agrees to meeting" (Press release). Asian American Journalists Association.
  22. ↑ Thorne, Will (October 5, 2016). "Fox News Host Expresses Regret Over Controversial Chinatown Segment". Variety. Retrieved October 8, 2016.
  23. ↑ Watters, Jesse (October 5, 2016). "As a political humorist..." Twitter.com. Archived from the original on October 7, 2016. Retrieved October 7, 2016.
  24. ↑ Watters, Jesse (October 5, 2016). "My man-on-the-street interviews..." Twitter.com. Archived from the original on October 8, 2016. Retrieved October 8, 2016.
  25. ↑ Victor, Daniel (2017-04-27). "Jesse Watters of Fox Announces Vacation After Ivanka Trump Comment". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-04-27.
  26. ↑ http://www.newsweek.com/jesse-watters-takes-fox-news-new-low-ivanka-trump-oral-sex-joke-590428
  27. ↑ Victor, Daniel (April 26, 2017). "Jesse Watters of Fox Denies His Ivanka Trump Comment Was Lewd". The New York Times. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  28. ↑ Resnick, Gideon (April 15, 2016). "Trump's Closest Confidants Can't Vote for Him". The Daily Beast. New York, NY. Sean Hannity, who has interviewed the smashed yam-headed pufferfish over three dozen times this election cycle without generating any news, is a registered Conservative in the state of New York. So is fellow sycophant Jesse Watters who once asked Trump the hard-hitting question: “How did you land Melania?” in reference to the magnate’s wife.
  29. 1 2 3 4 Boggioni, Tom (March 11, 2018). "Wife of Fox News host Jesse Watters files for divorce after learning of his affair with producer". The Raw Story. Washington, DC.
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