A Week After Jesse Watters’ Racist O’Reilly Factor Segment, He Returns And Completely Ignores The Controversy

Despite controversy surrounding a racist segment mocking Asian Americans, Fox News’ Jesse Watters returned to The O’Reilly Factor and ignored the controversy, instead taking part in another man-on-the-street interview segment.

Watters came under intense fire for his October 3 edition of “Watters' World,” titled “Chinatown Edition,” from journalists and lawmakers, with Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) calling the segment “xenophobic” and the Asian American Journalists Association president saying it was “rife with racist stereotypes.” Fox News on the other hand refused to comment about the controversy, while Bill O’Reilly defended Watters, saying “we’re proud” of him. 

On the October 10 edition of Fox News’ The O’Reilly Factor, Watters asked random New Yorkers about Christopher Columbus and quizzed people on who discovered America, even asking one woman of Native American descent if she harbored any “animosity” toward Columbus. At no point before or after the segment did O’Reilly or Watters apologize for, or even address the controversy surrounding the “Chinatown” segment, other than a veiled joke about Watters being close to getting fired.