Rosie O’Donnell lashed out Fox News host Jesse Watters in a viral TikTok post after describing an encounter with a production crew outside the New York theater where she was performing.
O’Donnell, who was appearing in her autobiographical one-woman Off-Broadway show Common Knowledge at the Daryl Roth Theatre, said a Fox News team had positioned itself to intercept her as she left her vehicle. In the caption accompanying the video, she wrote, “Today a fox crew was waiting for me to exit the car – they ran in mass screaming JESSE WATTERS WANTS TO TALK TO U – so what ? – I have no desire to talk to him or fox (we lie to Americans) ‘news’ – so say what u need and go the f**k away.”
In the video itself, recorded while she was getting her hair done, O’Donnell addressed the matter directly. “So here’s what I want to say to Jesse Watters and his gang of unruly reporter yellers at the theater today,” she stated. “No, I don’t want to speak or answer a question from Jesse Watters.” She elaborated on her disinterest: “I’ve never watched Jesse Watters, and I don’t ever care to. Okay? I’ve read enough about what he said about women and who he is and how his career began on the Bill O’Reilly show, of all places.”
POV: How to tank your show’s ratings, speedrun edition.
Right when you thought Jimmy Kimmel’s show couldn’t get any worse, they throw TDS patient zero Rosie O’Donnell on-air.
The jokes write themselves. 🤣 pic.twitter.com/dNoNMP1oQ0
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) August 18, 2026
O’Donnell — who recently returned from Ireland after previously fleeing following the re-election of President Donald Trump — then called on Watters to stay out of her “orbit.”
The video gained renewed attention in mid-August as O’Donnell began a four-night run as guest host of Jimmy Kimmel Live!. Having relocated to Ireland after President Donald Trump’s reelection, she used her opening monologue to refer to the president as “Mango Mussolini” and insinuated that Trump was watching.
POLL: Should Sanctuary Cities Be Banned From Federal Funding?
