Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz has no aloha for Fox News correspondent Jesse Watters, whose report in New York’s Chinatown generated a backlash on social media for its use of Asian stereotypes.
“I cannot believe that this guy is allowed to stay on the air. Or that anyone finds this garbage funny,” Schatz said in a tweet Wednesday.
“Jesse Watters is unfunny and mean. He should be ashamed of himself. Also, he’s not welcome to Honolulu Chinatown,” the Democratic senator from Hawaii said in another tweet.
The Fox reporter’s “Watters World” segment on “The O’Reilly Factor” on Monday night showed him asking people in New York’s Chinatown about the presidential election.
Fox describes Watters’ reports as a “comedic look at the latest headlines.”
But the Asian American Journalists Association issued a statement saying the piece was “rife with racial stereotypes, drew on thoughtless tropes and openly ridiculed Asian Americans.”
The group asked Fox News to apologize for the story.
Watters tweeted his regret about the backlash.
“My man-on-the-street interviews are meant to be taken as tongue-in-cheek and I regret if anyone found offense,” he said in a tweet Wednesday. In another tweet, Watters said: “As a political humorist, the Chinatown segment was intended to be a light piece, as all ‘Watters World’ segments are.”
The story starts out with Watters asking two women, “Am I supposed to bow to say hello?”
He interviews a number of people about Donald Trump’s comments on China and also asks a man if he knows karate, and then goes on to show video of tae kwon do, while interspersing scenes from kung fu movies.
In an on-air conversation after the piece, Watters told host O’Reilly that “they are such a polite people,” while O’Reilly notes that “they are patient.”
Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites filled up with comments about the story. Watters’ defenders urged him not to give in to political correctness, while his detractors said offering regret is not the same as apologizing.
“It’s called humor-Don’t getur panties in a twist jus cause u have no funnybone/cantexist outside of a safe zone,” said @KrisWilliams.
But @briflys asked, “Would @jessebwatters do something like what he did in NY Chinatown in Harlem with the African American community?”
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Editor’s note: Craig Gima is a member of the Asian American Journalists Association.
