What Happened to Jesse Watters? Details on His Back Injury and Controversial Comments

Conservative political commentator Jesse Watters said on the Monday, April 25, 2022, episode of Fox News' The Five that he took some time off from the show because of a back injury. As he shared, he had to go to the hospital, leaving him unable to fulfill his duties as the co-host of The Five.

The period of absence comes after Jesse claimed he once let the air out of now-wife Emma Watters' (née DiGiovine) car tires because he wanted to offer her a ride home.

Because Jesse disappeared shortly after sharing these details, many viewers apparently feared that he'd gotten fired for making controversial comments live on air.

Jesse made his return on Monday, April 25, 2022, after taking some time off to recover from a back injury.

"I threw my back out. I went to the emergency room, they took me in an ambulance. I was in the hospital for four-five days," Jesse explained on The Five. "And they gave me a shot, in the back. I'm feeling a little bit better. They gave me one of these, a walker. There's a cane also hanging off the side of the walker. We're not gonna have surgery."

Co-host Greg Gutfeld then addressed what many fans had apparently feared — that Jesse's absence had been due to his firing over his comments about deflating Emma's tires. Greg mentioned that a fan had come up to him recently in a supermarket parking lot and asked him if Jesse had gotten "fired for saying something."

"Deflate-gate! That was a joke. I did not ... I've never deflated anyone's tires," Jesse said. "This always happens though. I always end up leaving after I've said something."

Jesse decided to take a breather around the same time as his anecdote about deflating his Emma's tires went viral.

The story didn't bode well with some of the viewers, several of whom took to social media to scrutinize the political commentator for promoting industrial-grade misogyny and manipulative behaviors live on air.

"Married Jesse Watters stalked his younger colleague and cheated on his wife while he gaslighted her into marrying him. Such a classic love story, ⁦@JesseBWatters⁩! #OKGroomer," tweeted @taradublinrocks.

"Guys, don’t try this at home! Flattening another [person's] tires is a criminal offense (tampering with a motor vehicle). Doing it to offer her a ride home because you want to date her? Creepy. Jesse Watters is lucky this ended well for him," tweeted @esqonfire.

The bottom line of the story is: if someone jumps in front of you out of nowhere just as you've discovered that your car tires have been deflated, consider not taking them up on the offer.

Jesse started dating Emma, then an associate producer at Fox News, a few years ago. They became engaged in August 2019, tying the knot in Naples, Italy, in December 2019.

Jesse and Emma started pursuing an affair while Jesse was still officially together with Noelle, whom he married in 2009. Noelle filed for divorce in October 2017 after news about Jesse's extramarital affair got out.