Fox News resident sexist Jesse Watters, who built his professional reputation as it is, by chasing liberals on camera, many of them women, on behalf of their predatory boss Bill O’Reilly, received a slap on Thursday. rhetoric for its recommendation that women solve the problem of sexual harassment in the workplace by simply hitting their male bullies.
“I would suggest that women – and I’ve had trouble saying that before – hit the man in the face. And do it right away, “Watters said Wednesday ‘s episode of The Five during a discussion on sexual harassment and unwanted touching accusations against New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. “Because if you wait too long, the politician feels he can keep doing this, no matter if he leaves a year or three years later. Do it immediately. When it’s cool. ”
Several former Fox News women, who received money settlements and left the company after being harassed on Donald Trump’s friendly channel, reacted to Watters ’recipe with withered disgust.
“The responsibility for stopping the harassment, mainly a man’s problem, should not fall on a woman to solve it.”
– Gretchen Carlson, former Fox News host
“Women across America are very pleased to have Jesse Watters mansplain for them,” Fox News political analyst Julie Roginsky told The Daily Beast, “but Jesse Watters may have watched as he worked for two bullies. [late Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes and O’Reilly] that women already face the risk of professional retaliation for not accompanying the harasser’s wishes ”.
Roginsky, who left Fox News in 2017 after settling a lawsuit for sexual harassment and retaliation against the company, Ailes, and his deputy Bill Shine, added: “If women were violent with the harasser, their career would have finished. Many are forced by forced arbitration and NDA at the beginning of their work. They could not tell their stories. Jesse’s best suggestion is to put the responsibility on his colleagues for not harassing women. “
Former Fox News presenter Gretchen Carlson’s sexual harassment lawsuit filed in July 2016 against Ailes led to her expulsion unfortunately.
“To suggest that women slap their perpetrator is to re-victimize 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 the harassment, mainly a man’s problem, should not fall on a woman to fix it. It’s similar to other excuses for women to quit their jobs or move to another department instead. to look at the real problem. It’s another reaction to cover your ass instead of working to fix the problem. “
In a tweet, added, “Not to mention the idiot that is to assume that slapping a predator would somehow change them. And that it should be up to the woman to slap instead of being a predator so as not to harass her ”.
In an email to The Daily Beast, Watters said it had been misunderstood: “This type of predatory behavior must be stopped immediately and it is 100% the responsibility of the harasser to stop it. My the intention was to defend the victims and demand accountability from inappropriate politicians, otherwise any suggestion is a misinterpretation of what I said. “
Other women who spoke to The Daily Beast about Watters’ observation – some of whom signed non-disclosure agreements as part of the cash settlements of the lawsuits – asked to remain anonymous to avoid possible retaliation for part of Fox News Media or its parent company Fox Corp.
“It’s easy to say ‘just slap her in the face’ and while this can bring short-term joy to women, it would almost inevitably condemn her career, especially in the field of broadcasting,” he said. say a former Fox personality on air. “If at that time all Fox men who made inappropriate comments were slapped, you would have a lot of red-faced men walking the net. And unfortunately women would never be allowed to see past security.”
The woman added: “It’s rare to see Fox take such an aggressive stance on Governor Cuomo, coming together to resign. This, as Fox continues to stage several hosts and collaborators who have shown that they do the same if not worse than the accusations against Cuomo “.
A second woman cited the story of Watters, 42, divorcing his then-wife Noelle in March 2019 after engaging in an extramarital affair with his associate producer, 26, Emma DiGiovine. The December 2019 wedding official was Fox News presenter Ed Henry, who was fired last year while a Fox Business producer filed a graphic lawsuit accusing Henry of sexual abuse.
“A man [Jesse Watters] whoever had an affair with a much younger woman at work really has no place to tell women how to react professionally when they are abused at work, “said the person.” Violence is not an answer. “It’s usually the only thing women fear when their abusers are much older, heavier and stronger than they are.”
Lawyer Douglas Wigdor, who has represented several Fox News prosecutors, told The Daily Beast: “It’s a classic rape myth that women should somehow use their physical power to keep men away from them. they attack, when the reality is that most women panic and freeze when sexually assaulted. “
Wednesday evening was not the first time Watters has widely called his views on the part of the woman. In April 2017, the Fox host made some not-so-subtle sexual innuendos about Ivanka Trump, remarking in the video she was speaking at a women’s rights conference: “I really liked how she spoke into that microphone” while he gestured to her mouth and smiled. The next day, Watters denied the sexual nuances before announcing an abrupt “family vacation.”
Meanwhile, a former Fox News member said, “I’d buy tickets to see Jesse Watters slap his former boss Bill O’Reilly. What do you say, presenter? Are you hiding under your desk? Bill used to always say” what do you say? you? ”and“ are you hiding under the desk ”when the guests don’t show up after his on-air challenge to do it with him? Jesse Watters lacks the moral strength to stand by any of the brave women of Fox News, all those who lost their jobs after being sexually harassed where they currently work ”.
This woman added: “Now, with an incredible twist, she believes she is an arbiter of sexual harassment. Only on Fox News did he get this pervert. But what more can we expect when Fox News founder Rupert Murdoch downplayed the cover-up of sexual harassment for decades as nothing more than a “little flirtation”? ”
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Diana Falzone was a digital and camera reporter for FoxNews.com from 2012 to 2018. In May 2017, he filed a lawsuit against disability and gender discrimination against the network and established 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 NDA in the workplace that is used to hide toxic behavior in the workplace.