Jesse Watters injured his back in the middle of April 2022. He required hospitalization to deal with the acute back pain and later underwent back surgery. As a result of all this, he missed several episodes of the political opinion panel show that he co-hosts on Fox News known as The Five.
Watters’ absence from the show came amidst the Deflategate controversy and many suspected that he had been suspended for his comments. Others even speculated that he may have been sacked. It, however, turned out not to be so, rather, that he was taking time off to deal with his back injury. Jesse Watters has since returned to his regular shows on Fox News and continues to do what he knows best
What Happened to Jesse Watters’ Back?
Jesse Watters threw his back out in April 2022. The fox news host did not give exact details about his back injury but medical sources define throwing one’s back out as temporarily spraining or pulling a muscle in one’s back, especially the lumbar region. This usually occurs as a result of multiple reasons such as lifting a heavy object, over-extending one’s self while stretching, twisting one’s back, etc.
Such an injury normally leads to back pain which in some instances can be acute. Jesse Watters did not reveal how he injured his back but it could have been that he did so while lifting a heavy object at his home. It could have also been that he twisted his back or overextended himself while stretching.
What Kind of Back Surgery Did Jesse Watters Have?
Jesse Watters likely underwent lumber back surgery to deal with his injury. He never revealed the exact kind of surgery he got, but the fact that he required surgery shows how serious his back injury was. As Jesse Watters himself revealed, in the aftermath, he called emergency services and was taken to the hospital by ambulance.
He spent about four to five days in the hospital during which he was given injections for his pain. He was then released and given a walker and a cane to aid his movement. Following his release, Jesse Watters resumed work. He appeared on The Five on the 25th of April 2022. He shared the reason behind his absence from the show and revealed that he was not going to have surgery.
However, it later turned out that he required surgery after all. His pain and discomfort flared up and he was readmitted to the hospital. Jesse Watters underwent back surgery on the 29th of April 2022. His Fox News colleagues shared the detail on air on the 2nd of May 2022. They revealed that the surgery was successful and shared their hope that Watters was now in less pain.
Jesse Watters’ Back Injury Came Amidst the Deflategate Controversy
Jesse Watters’ back injury, treatment, and subsequent recovery took a few weeks. During this period, he was away from work and rumors started speculating that he may have been suspended because of Deflategate. On his last on-screen appearance before his injury, which is the 11th of April 2022, Jesse Watters and his co-panelists were discussing climate change actives who puncture tires of people’s SUVs. During the discussion, Watters remarked that he had employed a similar tactic to get the attention of his current wife, Emma DiGiovine.
According to Watters, he punctured Emma’s tires to get her to take a ride from him. They eventually started talking and then dating. This odd tactic for getting a lady’s attention raised some eyebrows amongst Watters’ co-panelists. One asked him if he was really serious while another compared him to an infamous serial killer known as the zodiac killer. The zodiac killer is a pseudonym for an unidentified serial killer who operated in Northern California in the late 1960s and killed five persons.
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. 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 pic.twitter.com/ge9zZ2vMMH
— Decoding Fox News (@DecodingFoxNews) April 16, 2022
Jesse Watters laughed off his co-panelists’ comments and remarked that the story had a happy ending as he and Emma ended up getting married. He also revealed that he had never told her of the tactic that he deployed and that she would now find out about it from watching the show. At this point, another of Watters’ co-panelists named Jeanine Pirro asked him if this was his first time using such a tactic or if he had done it before. His reply was that it works like a charm.
The whole thing was supposed to be a light-hearted exchange but it caused a lot of controversies after the clip went viral. Many declared that Jesse Watters’ tactics were creepy. They also pointed out that the fact that he was still legally married to his first wife when he did so and that Emma was a junior colleague of his aggravated the whole thing.
Jesse Watters’ Absence Led to Speculations That He Had Been Sacked, but this Rumor was Quickly Dispelled
The online reaction to Jesse Watters’ comments quickly spiraled out of control and led to the controversy being dubbed deflategate. Unfortunately, he couldn’t quickly react to the whole thing as he was off-air as a result of his back injury and treatment. This led to another round of speculations that he had, perhaps, been sacked or temporarily suspended from the show. Some of his fans even wrote in to inquire from his co-panelists whether he was suspended.
It, however, turned out that Jesse Watters was never suspended nor sacked by Fox News. Though his comments were odd, his employers did not see them as serious enough to warrant a suspension. They, however, had him make an explanation when he temporarily came back to his show before undergoing surgery.
On an April 25th, 2022 episode of The Five, Jesse Watters revealed that he had only been joking when he made the unfortunate comments and that he never deflated anyone’s tires. He also revealed that he had clearly stated that he was only joking during the episode where he made the comments but that the part was cut out when the show was broadcast.
Jesse Watters reveals the reason he was off the air for the past week-plus was that he threw his back out.
He adds that he was just joking 2 weeks ago when he said he flattened his now-wife's tires so she'd go out with him.
"I always end up leaving after I say something!" pic.twitter.com/DQfkpRmpoW
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) April 25, 2022
Jesse Watters Has Since Continued his Work for Fox News
Watters’ comments put a rest to Deflategate and he has since continued with his work for Fox News, hosting several shows across the network. His back injury has not flared up again. There have also not been any new controversies over his worrying comments. There are, however, some out there who believe that he was not joking when he made the comment and that he only said so to save himself. They point to the fact that his co-panelist never acted like they were in on a joke when he initially made those comments.
