Fox News host Jesse Watters is now facing criticism after admitting to deflating the tires of a producer fourteen years his junior in order to offer her a ride so he could begin courting her.
The unsettling admission came last week during a broadcast of "The Five," where Watters apparently felt compelled to divulge a downright unnerving story behind how he and his second wife's met.
"When I was trying to get [my wife Emma] to date me, first thing I did, uh, I let the air out of her tires," Watters claimed, pleased with himself . "She couldn't go anywhere, she needed a lift. I said, 'Hey, you need a lift?' She hopped right in the car."
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One of his co-hosts asks whether his wife knows this story.
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"Now she does," Watters quipped, laughing.
"You're basically the Zodiac killer," said host Greg Gutfeld.
But Waters suggested that the disturbing ruse was worth it. "It has a happy ending!" he said. "We're married."
"Is that the first time you did it or did you use that before?" asked Jeanine Pirro.
"Ah, it works like a charm," Watters responded.
The exchange drew immediate concern over Twitter, with many users claiming that Watters' conduct was predatory, especially in light of the fact that he was his wife's boss at the time.
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"Jesse Watters jokes about how he courted a woman 14 years his junior. He let the air out of her tires so he could offer her a ride home," tweeted journalist Juliet Jeske. "He leaves out that he was married at the time. This is some stalker nonsense. She also worked for him. It's a Fox News love story."
"To no one's surprise, Fox News host Jesse Watters reveals he is a creepy stalker. He says to get a woman to date him, he let the air out of her tires so he could offer her a ride home," echoed NBC executive Mike Sington. "It gets worse: the woman worked for him, and he was married at the time.
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