The Daily Beast
Ex-Fox News women criticize Jesse Watters for Cuomo harassment accusers blaming victims
Resident macho John Lamparski / GettyFox News, Jesse Watters – who built his professional reputation as it is, chasing liberals on camera, many of them women, on behalf of his predatory boss Bill O’Reilly – received a rhetorical slap across the face on Thursday for his recommendation that women solve the problem of sexual harassment in the workplace by simply slapping their male harassers. “I would suggest that women – and I’ve had trouble saying that – you slap the man in the face. And you do that right away, ”said Watters in the Wednesday episode of Five, during a discussion of sexual harassment and allegations of unwanted touching against New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. “Because if you wait too long, the politician feels he can keep doing it, and it doesn’t matter if he leaves one or three years later. Do this immediately. When it’s cool. “A number of ex-Fox News women, who received monetary deals and left the company after being chased by harassers on Donald Trump’s friendly channel, responded to Watters’ prescription with overwhelming disgust.” Women across America are delighted to have Jesse Watters honor them, “former Fox News political analyst Julie Roginsky told The Daily Beast,” but Jesse Watters may have watched while working for two harassers [late Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes and O’Reilly] that women are already at risk of professional retaliation for not following the harasser’s wishes. “Roginsky – who left Fox News in 2017 after ending sexual harassment and retaliation against the company, Ailes, and his deputy, Bill Shine – added,” If women became violent towards the harasser, their career would be over. . Many are bound by forced arbitration and NDAs at the start of their work. They couldn’t tell their stories. Jesse’s best suggestion is to place the burden of not harassing women on his companions. Ed Henry’s accusers say his behavior was an open secret on Fox NewsFormer Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson, whose sexual harassment lawsuit against Ailes in July 2016 resulted in his being expelled in disgrace, agreed. “To suggest that women should slap their perpetrator is to re-victimize the victim in the sense that they should fix the problem that they have nothing to do with,” Carlson told The Daily Beast. “The responsibility for stopping harassment, especially a man’s problem, should not fall on a woman to fix it. It is similar to other excuses that women should leave their jobs or move to another department, instead of looking at the real problem. It is another disguise reaction, instead of working to fix the problem. “In a tweet, she added:” Not to mention how stupid it is to assume that slapping a predator would change them in any way. And that it should be up to the woman to slap instead of predatory just so as not to harass. “In an email response to The Daily Beast, Watters said it was misinterpreted:” This type of predatory behavior needs to stop immediately and it is the harasser ‘s 100% responsibility to stop it. My intention was to defend the victims and hold inappropriate politicians accountable – any suggestion otherwise is a misinterpretation of what I said. “Other women who spoke to The Daily Beast about Watters’ comment – several of whom signed confidentiality agreements as part of the cash settlement of lawsuits – requested to remain anonymous in order to avoid potential retaliation by Fox News Media or its parent company Fox Corp. “It’s simple to say, ‘just slap him in the face,’ and while it may attract cries of joy from the woman in the short term, it would almost inevitably condemn her professional career, especially in broadcasting,” said a former Fox personality on the air. . “If every man on Fox who made inappropriate comments was slapped at that moment, you would have a lot of red-faced men walking through the net. And, unfortunately, women would never again be allowed to go through security to see. ” This woman added: “It is strange to see Fox taking such an aggressive position towards Governor Cuomo, asking for his resignation. This, given that Fox continues to air several hosts and collaborators who are proven to do the same, if not worse, accusations against Cuomo. A second woman cited Watters’ reported story of 42 years of divorce from his then wife Noelle in March 2019 after getting involved in an extramarital affair with his 26-year-old associate producer, now wife Emma DiGiovine. The officiant at his wedding in December 2019 was then Fox News anchor Ed Henry, who was fired last year when a Fox Business producer filed a graphic lawsuit accusing Henry of sexual abuse. [Jesse Watters] whoever had an affair with a much younger woman at work really has no place to tell women how they should react professionally when abused at work, ”said that person. “Violence is not an answer. It is usually the one thing that women fear the most when their attackers are much bigger, heavier and stronger than they are. Fox News Broadcasts Openly Racist Segment in the Asian People Attorney Douglas Wigdor, who represented several Fox News accusers, told The Daily Beast, “It is a classic rape myth that women must somehow use their physical power to ward off men who attack them, when the reality is that most women panic and freeze when they are sexually abused. ” Wednesday night was not the first time that Watters received widespread criticism. dirty comments about women. In April 2017, the Fox presenter made some not-so-subtle sexual hints about Ivanka Trump, commenting on a video of her speaking at a women’s rights conference: “I really liked how she was speaking on that microphone” while gesturing at towards his mouth and smiling. The next day, Watters denied the sexual connotations before announcing an abrupt “family vacation”. Meanwhile, a former Fox News employee said, “I would buy tickets to watch Jesse Watters slap his former boss Bill O’Reilly. What do you say, anchor? Are you hiding under your table? Bill always used to say ‘what do you say?’ and ‘you are hiding under your table’ when the guests would not show up after your challenge in the air to duel with him. Jesse Watters did not have the moral courage to be with any of Fox News’s brave women, all of whom lost their jobs after being sexually harassed where he is currently employed. This woman added: “Now, in an incredible twist, he imagines himself to be the arbiter of sexual harassment. Only on Fox News could this be so perverse. But what else can we expect when Fox News founder Rupert Murdoch lessened the cover-up of decades-old sexual harassment as nothing more than a ‘little flirt’. ”- Diana Falzone was a digital and digital reporter for FoxNews. com from 2012 to 2018. In May 2017, she filed a lawsuit for gender discrimination and disability against the network and made a deal, leaving the company in March 2018. Together with Roginsky and Carlson, she co-founded Lift Our Voices, a non-profit organization that seeks to eradicate NDAs in the workplace used to hide toxic behavior in the workplace. Read more in The Daily Beast. Read our top news in your inbox every day. Subscribe now! Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper into the stories that matter to you. To know more.