Asian women targeted in Fox News host’s sexual assault ‘joke’

Fox News host Jesse Watters came under fire after joking that “women in Asia” should “be careful” around U.S. service members who could become “wild animals” after taking testosterone. The 48-year-old anchor, whose past on-air segments involving Asians have been called out for blatant racism, laughed while describing the prospect of women facing sexually aggressive troops.

Watters made the remarks during the July 16 edition of “The Five” while discussing a Pentagon initiative to screen service members for testosterone deficiency.

Journalist Mehdi Hasan condemned the exchange after a clip circulated online. “A Fox host joking about US soldiers raping women. Well done Rupert Murdoch, well done,” he wrote on X, referring to the founder of Fox News.

Sexual assaults involving U.S. military personnel have repeatedly sparked protests in Okinawa, where a large share of the American troops stationed in Japan are based. Local officials and advocates have pressed the Japanese and U.S. governments for stricter discipline, greater transparency and changes to the agreement governing the American military presence.

The rape of a 12-year-old Okinawan girl by three U.S. service members in 1995 drew tens of thousands of people to protest the American military presence. More recent cases have renewed those demands. In 2023, U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Brennon Washington kidnapped and sexually assaulted a girl under 16 in Okinawa. A Japanese court convicted him in December 2024 and sentenced him to five years in prison.

In the Philippines, U.S. Marine Joseph Scott Pemberton was convicted in the 2014 killing of Jennifer Laude, a transgender Filipina woman he met near the former Subic Bay naval base. Her death prompted protests over U.S. military access and the treatment of American service members accused of crimes in the country.

This is not the first time Watters has attempted to get laughs at Asians’ expense. In 2016, a “Watters’ World” segment filmed in Manhattan’s Chinatown was widely condemned for relying on racial stereotypes while ostensibly profiling Chinese American voters ahead of the presidential election.

Watters asked residents whether he should bow when greeting them, whether they knew karate and whether goods sold in Chinatown were stolen. The segment also featured martial arts clips, the song “Kung Fu Fighting” and footage of Watters receiving a foot massage. After facing backlash from advocates and New York officials, Watters described the segment as a “light piece” and said his street interviews were intended to be “tongue-in-cheek.” He added that he regretted “if anyone found offense.”

He faced renewed backlash in 2020 after defending the use of the term “Chinese virus” on “The Five.” Dismissing concerns that the phrase fueled anti-Asian racism, Watters argued that “Asians eat raw bats and snakes” and said China should not be “immune” from criticism because of “political correctness.”