Fox News resident Jesse Watters – who has built his professional reputation as he is by watching the Liberals on camera, many of them women, on behalf of his predatory boss Bill O’Reilly – received a rhetorical slap on Thursday for his recommendation for women to solve the problem of sexual harassment at work simply by slapping their male harassers.
“I would suggest that women – and I had problems because I said that before – slap the man in the face. And you do it right away, “Watters said in Wednesday’s episode five of the during a discussion on sexual harassment and unwanted emotional accusations against New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. “Because if you wait too long, the politician feels that he can continue to do that and it doesn’t matter if he comes out a year or three years later. Do it right away. When it’s fresh. ”
Several former Fox News women who received cash settlements and left the company after being targeted by harassers on Donald Trump’s friendly channel reacted to Watters’ prescription with withered disgust.
“The responsibility for stopping harassment, primarily a man’s problem, should not lie with a woman.”
– Gretchen Carlson, former Fox News host
“Women across America are thrilled that Jesse Watters is being killed,” former Fox News political analyst Julie Roginsky told The Daily Beast, “but Jesse Watters could have noticed while working for two harassers.” [late Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes and O’Reilly] that women already face the risk of professional retaliation, without interrupting the harasser’s desires. ”
Roginsky – who left Fox News in 2017 after a lawsuit of sexual harassment and retaliation against the company, Ailes and his deputy Bill Shine – added: “If women were violent with the harasser, their careers would be over. Many are bound by forced arbitration and NDA at the beginning of the workplace. They couldn’t tell their stories. Jesse’s best suggestion is to put a burden on his peers not to harass women. “
Former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson, whose sexual harassment lawsuit against Ailes in July 2016 led to his disgraceful dismissal, agreed.
“Suggesting that women slap their perpetrator is victimizing the victim in the sense that they should solve the problem they have nothing to do with,” Carlson told The Daily Beast. “The responsibility for stopping harassment, first and foremost a man’s problem, should not lie with a woman. It is similar to other excuses that women should leave their jobs or move to another department than to look at the real problem. It’s another coverage reaction, rather than working to solve the problem. ”
In a tweet, she added“Not to mention how stupid it is to assume that a predator’s slap would somehow change them. And that the woman should depend on the woman to slap instead of predators in order not to harass ”.
In an email to The Daily Beast, Watters said it was misunderstood: “This type of predatory behavior must stop immediately and it is 100% the responsibility of the harasser to stop it. My intention was to defend the victims and respond to inappropriate politicians – any suggestion otherwise is a misinterpretation of what I said. “
Other women who spoke to The Daily Beast about Watters’ remark – several of whom signed non-disclosure agreements as part of the cash settlement of the lawsuits – asked to remain anonymous to avoid potential retaliation from Fox News Media or his company. mother Fox Corp.
“It’s easy to say, ‘Just slap him in the face,’ and although this could bring the cheers together in the short term, it would almost inevitably condemn her professional career, especially in broadcasting,” said a former Fox official in air. “If every Fox man who made inappropriate comments slapped at that moment, you would have a lot of red-faced men walking around the net. And, unfortunately, women would never be allowed to see past security again. “
She added: “It is strange to see Fox taking such an aggressive stance on Governor Cuomo, gathering for him to resign. This, as Fox continues to circulate more hosts and collaborators who have proven to be doing the same thing, if not worse than the allegations against Cuomo. ”
A second woman cited the reported history of 42-year-old Watters, who divorced his then-wife, Noelle, in March 2019 after embarking on an extramarital affair with his 26-year-old associate producer. years ago, now his wife Emma DiGiovine. The officer at the December 2019 wedding was Fox News presenter Ed Henry, who was fired last year because a Fox Business producer filed a lawsuit, accusing Henry of sexual abuse.
“A man [Jesse Watters] who had an affair with a much younger woman at work really has nowhere to tell women how they should react professionally when they are abused at work, ”she said. “Violence is not an answer. It is usually the only thing that women fear the most when their aggressors are much bigger, heavier and stronger than them. ”
Lawyer Douglas Wigdor, who represented several Fox News defendants, told The Daily Beast: “It’s a classic rape myth that women should somehow use their physical strength to drive away men who attack them when the reality is that most women panic and freeze when sexually assaulted ”.
Wednesday night was not the first time Watters had widely criticized pork comments about women. In April 2017, Fox host presented some not-so-subtle sexual insinuations about Ivanka Trump, noting in her video speaking at a women’s rights conference: “I really liked the way she spoke into that microphone,” as she gestured. to his mouth and smiling. The next day, Watters denied sexual tones before announcing a sudden “family vacation.”
Meanwhile, a former Fox News employee said: “I would buy tickets to watch Jesse Watters slapping his former boss Bill O’Reilly. What do you say, sailor? Are you hiding under the desk? Bill used to always say, “What do you say?” and “hiding under your desk” when guests wouldn’t come after his air challenge to take him with them. Jesse Watters lacked the moral strength to stand with any of Fox News’ brave women, all of whom lost their jobs after being sexually harassed where he is currently employed. ”
She added: “Now, in an incredible twist, he believes himself to be the arbiter of sexual harassment. Only on Fox News could he get this pervert. But what else can we expect when Fox News founder Rupert Murdoch downplayed sexual harassment for decades as just a “little flirtation”? ”
–
Diana Falzone was a camera and digital reporter for FoxNews.com from 2012 to 2018. In May 2017, he filed a lawsuit against gender discrimination and disabilities against the network and settled and left the company in March 2018. Together with Roginsky and Carlson, she co-founded Lift Our Voices, a nonprofit organization that seeks to eradicate workplace NDAs used to hide toxic workplace behavior.