Watters' World

Jesse Bailey Watters (born July 9, 1978) is an American conservative political commentator and television program host on the Fox News cable television network. He frequently appeared earlier in his media career on the political talk show ''The O'Reilly Factor'' with commentator/moderator Bill O'Reilly and was known for his man-on-the-street interviews, featured in his segment there of "Watters' World", which became its own show in 2015. In January 2017, ''Watters' World'' became weekly, and in April 2017, he became a co-host of the roundtable series '' The Five''. Watters became host of his own program ''Jesse Watters Primetime'' on the Fox News Channel in January 2022.

Watters's first book, ''How I Saved the World'', was published by HarperCollins. His second book, ''Get It Together: Troubling Tales from the Liberal Fringe'', was published by Broadside Books in March 2024.

Early life and education

Watters was raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in several neighborhoods of the northwest city, and then briefly during high school to Long Island, New York. He is the son of Stephen Hapgood Watters, a teacher, and child psychologist Anne Purvis, daughter of Morton Bailey, Jr., publisher of '' Better Homes and Gardens'' magazine. His maternal great-grandfather was another Morton Bailey, publisher of the prominent longtime magazine ''The Saturday Evening Post''; his maternal great-great-grandfather was Morton S. Bailey (1855–1922), a lawyer, politician, state senator and district judge in Colorado, later serving as an Associate Justice on the Colorado Supreme Court in the state capital of Denver, Colorado.

Watters' paternal grandfather, Franklin Benjamin Watters, was a cardiologist at the Veterans Administration Hospital at Newington, Connecticut, and a professor at the University of Connecticut Medical Dental School. Watters is also the cousin of ballet dancer Harper Watters and the nephew of longtime current New Hampshire state senator David H. Watters (born 1950), a Democrat, serving in the upper chamber of the state Senate of the bicameral General Court of New Hampshire (state legislature) at the New Hampshire State House, in the state capital town of Concord.
He has some Irish ancestry on his father's side. Watters is named after his mother's great-grandfather Jesse Andrew Burnett, an associate chief justice of the Kansas Supreme Court in their state capital of Topeka, Kansas.

Watters grew up in the Germantown neighborhood of Upper Northwest Philadelphia and then later moved to the East Falls neighborhood of the Lower Northwest of the city. He attended the William Penn Charter School through junior year of secondary school, before moving again from Pennsylvania, far further northeast with his family to Long Island, New York state. In 2001, he graduated from Trinity College in the state capital of Hartford, Connecticut, with a Bachelors of Arts academic degree, majoring in history.

Career

After graduation from Trinity College in Hartford, Watters began work as a production assistant at Fox News in New York City. In 2003, he moved to the production staff of ''The O'Reilly Factor''; in 2004, Watters began to appear on air in segments of O'Reilly's show.

On June 11, 2014, Watters debuted on the Fox News Channel show '' Outnumbered'', later occasionally appearing as a guest co-host. On November 20, 2015, Watters debuted his own monthly Fox News program, ''Watters' World''. While Watters is characterized as an "ambush journalist", 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?'" In January 2017, ''Watters' World'' became a weekly show, airing Saturdays at 8 p.m. ET.

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

In April 2021, HarperCollins announced the publication of Watters' new book ''How I Saved the World'', which was published on July 6. The book debuted at number one on ''The New York Times'' nonfiction best-seller list for the week ending July 10, 2021.

After being one of several rotating fill-in hosts in the network's 7 p.m. time slot, it was announced on January 10, 2022 that Watters would become the permanent host of a new primetime show, titled ''Jesse Watters Primetime'', which debuted on January 24, 2022.

''Watters' World'' program ended its run on January 15, 2022, while Watters continues to be a co-host of the continuing ''The Five.''

In June 2023, Fox News announced Watters as the permanent host of the network's 8 p.m. EST hour following the firing of controversial fellow conservative commentator Tucker Carlson.

In January 2024, he presented to his viewers a thought, without evidence, that Taylor Swift and Kansas City chiefs player Travis Kelce's relationship was part of a " psyop" directed by the U.S. Department of Defense. In July 2024, he said that he "heard the scientists say the other day that when a man votes for a woman, he actually transitions into a woman."

Controversies

Amanda Terkel stalking

In 2009, on assignment for ''The O'Reilly Factor'', Watters and his cameraman followed journalist Amanda Terkel in her car for two hours while she drove to Winchester, Virginia, for vacation, and then asked her questions about an article she wrote that was critical of Bill O'Reilly.

Seven years later, at the White House Correspondents Dinner journalists' reception, ''The Huffington Post'''s Ryan Grim approached Watters with his phone camera running and asked him to walk over to Terkel and apologize. Watters at first said he would apologize and then said he would not, adding, "I ambushed her because O'Reilly told me to get her because she said some bad shit." Video of the incident shows Watters then grabbing Grim's phone and throwing it on the floor, and later grabbing it again and putting it in his pocket. Eventually, the two got into a shoving match, as Grim attempted to recover his phone. Watters later commented on the incident on ''The O'Reilly Factor'', stating, "I was at this party trying to enjoy myself. This guy came up to me. He starts putting it in my face."

Terkel wrote that Watters' response was "surprising", considering that "Watters' way of confronting his subjects is to thrust cameras in their faces unexpectedly and pepper them with aggressive questions."

Chinatown segment

In October 2016, Watters was criticized for a segment of ''Watters' World'' that was widely considered racist toward Asian Americans. In New York City's Chinatown, Watters asked Chinese Americans if they knew karate (a Japanese martial art), if he should bow before he greets them, or if their watches were stolen. 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. New York City mayor Bill de Blasio denounced Watters' segment as "vile, racist behavior" that "has no place in our city". Numerous other lawmakers and journalists, including US Senator Mazie Hirono and US Representative Judy Chu, also condemned Watters. 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."

On October 5, 2016, Watters tweeted what ''Variety'''s Will Thorne called a " non-apology" about the segment. In the two tweets, Watters stated that "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."

John Podesta comments

In January 2017, Watters faulted John Podesta, Hillary Clinton's campaign manager, for the theft of Podesta's emails by Russian hackers, saying, "What happened was John Podesta gave his password to a hacker. And guess what his password was. 'Password.' It's a true story. His password was 'password.'" The fact-checking website PolitiFact rated Watters' claim "False."

Ivanka Trump comments

In April 2017, two days after joining '' The Five'' as co-host, Watters made an on-air comment about Ivanka Trump (daughter of 45th & 47th President Donald J. Trump), that was criticized as lewd. After viewing video footage of Ms. 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," as he parodied holding the microphone as a phallic symbol. Watters denied his comment was 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." In response to the criticism, Watters was not on the show for two days that week.

QAnon comments

In July 2020, Jesse Watters' comments during his show about the conspiracy theory movement, QAnon, drew public criticism. Watters' statements on the group included, "they've also uncovered a lot of great stuff when it comes to Epstein and it comes to the deep state. I never saw Q as dangerous as antifa." Following the outcry over his commentary, Watters released a statement that said: "I mentioned the conspiracy group QAnon, which I don't support or believe in. My comments should not be mistaken for giving credence to this fringe platform."

Dr. Anthony Fauci comments

Watters attended the Turning Point USA's AmericaFest conference in December 2021, where he advocated for attendees to aggressively confront and question National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Dr. Anthony Fauci about his alleged funding of gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, in Wuhan, of the Peoples' Republic of China, saying, "Now you go in for the kill shot. The kill shot? With an ambush? Deadly. Because he doesn't see it coming." Dr. Fauci responded by calling Watters' remarks "awful" and said that Watters "should be fired on the spot". Fox News Channel indicated their continued support for Watters, saying he "was using a metaphor", and that his comments "had been twisted completely out of context".

Comments about the Muslim world and Arab-Americans

During the November 2, 2023 broadcast of ''The Five'', Watters stated during a segment about the Gaza war protests that "We've had it with them" referring to the Muslim world. He added, "If you are an Arab American in this country and you ripped down posters of Jewish hostages, American hostages, no! No, no, no. Someone is gonna get punched in the face." This statement was condemned by White House spokesperson Andrew James Bates, saying "These unacceptable remarks come just weeks after the heartbreaking killing of a 6-year-old Palestinian-American child... Fox News owes an apology to every single viewer for this sickening attack on the rights and dignity of their fellow Americans."

Comments about Vice President Kamala Harris

During the August 27, 2024 broadcast of ''The Five'', Watters commented on Vice President and 2024 Democratic Party presidential nominee Kamala Harris: "We don't know who she is. We don't know what she believes. She's going to get paralyzed in the Situation Room while the generals have their way with her." Watters received immediate criticism for this comment, including from his panel colleagues Jeanine Pirro and Dana Perino. A day later, Watters addressed the criticism on-air, stating his comments were misconstrued as being sexual. He further stated he was simply "expressing my opinion that VP Harris' current leadership style could be an issue if elected".

Comments about invading Canada

During a broadcast on 8 January 2025, Watters expressed a desire for a military invasion of Canada amidst the backdrop of United States Presidential nominee Donald Trump's comments about turning Canada into America's 51st state. He stated: "Canada... the fact that they don’t want us to take them over makes me want to invade. I want to quench my imperialist thirst". During an interview with Ontario premier Doug Ford, Watters said, "You say that Americans don’t have a problem with Canadians, and we don’t, but it seems like you have a problem with us. Because if I were a citizen of another country and I was a neighbor of the United States, I would consider it a privilege to be taken over by the United States of America. That’s what everybody else in the world wants — American citizenship. For some reason, that’s repellant to you Canadians, and I find that personally offensive".

Comments on masculinity

Watter has criticized former President Joe Biden for licking ice cream in public as "a grown man". He has instructed men on how they should wave and belittled those who grocery shop with their wives. In September 2024, Jesse Watters was criticized for comments he made on ''The Five'' regarding Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, who had shared a photo of himself drinking a milkshake with a paper straw. Watters mocked the image as an example of Walz's lack of masculinity because he used a straw which he claimed made women not like Walz because women like masculinity. He said that asking for a "vanilla shake" instead of a "vanilla ice cream shake" also makes men look weak. The remarks sparked backlash, with critics accusing Watters of promoting outdated gender norms and using a trivial moment to push political commentary. Governor Walz responded by defending the post and encouraging a focus on real issues rather than manufactured culture wars.

In March 2025, Watters listed his "five rules for men" on ''The Five'' – don't be that serious just be funny, don't eat soup in public, don't cross your legs, don't drink from a straw and don’t wave simultaneously with two hands because men wave with one hand, not both hands at the same time. He added that one of the reasons you don't drink from a straw is the way your lips purse which is very effeminate. He said referring to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz that Walz's excuse was, "'well I was drinking a milkshake.' Again, you shouldn’t be drinking a milkshake. Milkshakes are for kids." Watters was reacting to Walz's appeared on the This is Gavin Newsom podcast, where he said that MAGA voters are "scared" of his masculinity because he doesn't joke that he can fix a truck and that that MAGA focused on attacking him for his masculinity "obsessively" during the 2024 presidential election. His comments were widely ridiculed as revealing his insecurity on social media according to ''The Independent'' and an images of him and Donald Trump whom he strongly supports drinking from a straw surfaced on social media.

In April 2025, Watters said that "When you sit behind a screen all day, it makes you a woman, Studies have shown this," and as one of the panelists cackled, he repeated the claim; while debating a MAGA author’s claim that President Donald Trump’s tariffs will reverse a crisis of masculinity in the U.S. by bringing back jobs requiring physical strength. He also said “If you’re out working ... you are around other guys; you’re not around HR ladies and lawyers. That gives you estrogen". ''The Five'' cohost Jeanine Pirro pushed back saying "You sit behind a screen". The incident sparked backlash across social media.

Deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia

Watters controversially backed the Trump administration’s unsubstantiated claim that the illegally deported Maryland man is a dangerous terrorist, saying that Garcia wearing a Chicago Bulls hat "means you’re MS-13" and you "hang around with high-ranking gangsters." saying "Garcia is a Bulls fan, but he’s from El Salvador and he lives in Maryland, not Chicago,". He added, "The Bulls lost 60 games in 2019, so why the hat? Can Garcia name anyone on the team? Anyone on any Bulls team besides Jordan? Everyone from El Salvador knows what it means, When you wear a Bulls hat, it means you’re MS-13. When you’re in Compton, you don’t accidentally wear red and say: ‘Oh, I didn’t know red was Bloods.’ If you’re a Latin American illegal alien in Maryland, you don’t accidentally wear Chicago Bulls gear and hang around with high-ranking gangsters from MS-13." He also ridiculed the notion that Abrego Garcia fled El Salvador because his family’s pupusa shop had been shaken down by local gang members, resulting in increasing threats of violence.

Personal life

Watters is registered to vote as a member of the Conservative Party of New York State. He married Noelle Inguagiato in 2009 and they have twin daughters. Noelle filed for divorce in 2018 after Watters admitted to an affair with a producer on his show, Emma DiGiovine who was about 26 at the time. Watters claimed to have begun dating DiGiovine by letting the air out of her vehicle's tires so she would ask him for a ride. In March 2019, Inguagiato and Watters' divorce was finalized. Watters announced his engagement to DiGiovine in August 2019, and they married that December. They had a son together in 2021, followed by a daughter in April 2023.

Bibliography

*
* Watters, Jesse (2024). ''Get It Together: Troubling Tales from the Liberal Fringe''. New York: Broadside Books.

See also

* New Yorkers in journalism

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Watters, Jesse Bailey
1978 births
American male journalists
American television journalists
Television producers from Pennsylvania
Fox News people
Living people
Journalists from Pennsylvania
Television personalities from Philadelphia
Trinity College (Connecticut) alumni
William Penn Charter School alumni
Jesse