Rosie O’Donnell Rejects Jesse Watters’ Interview Request Outside Theater

Rosie O’Donnell has made it clear that she has no interest in speaking with Fox News host Jesse Watters.

The League of Their Own star said in a TikTok video Thursday that a Fox News crew approached her outside the theater where she is performing her one-woman show, Common Knowledge, in New York City.

According to O’Donnell, the crew was waiting for her as she arrived and began calling out to her.

“Today a Fox crew was waiting for me to exit the car — they ran in mass screaming, ‘Jesse Watters wants to talk to you,’” O’Donnell wrote in the caption of the video.

Her response was blunt.

“I have no desire to talk to him or Fox ‘News,’” she wrote, adding that the crew should “go the f--- away.”

In the video, O’Donnell directly addressed Watters and the reporters who approached her.

“No, I don’t want to speak or answer a question from Jesse Watters,” she said. “I’ve never watched Jesse Watters and I don’t ever care to.”

O’Donnell, who has been openly critical of conservative politicians and media outlets, also pointed to Watters’ history of controversial comments about women as a reason she does not want to appear on his program.

“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,” she said.

She also criticized the way the Fox News crew approached her, arguing that an interview request should have been made through her representatives.

“If you want to interview me, call my publicist,” O’Donnell said. “That’s how it works.”

She ended the video by saying that her refusal was not based on fear.

“I’m not afraid of you,” O’Donnell said. “I just have no interest in you in any capacity.”

Watters, the host of Jesse Watters Primetime, has previously faced criticism over comments he has made about women in politics.

Earlier this year, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez rejected an invitation to appear on his program and accused Watters of sexualizing and sexually harassing her on television. Her comments followed remarks Watters had made about her and Sen. Stephen Miller.

Watters has also faced criticism for comments about former Vice President Kamala Harris. During a 2024 appearance on The Five, he said Harris could become “paralyzed in the Situation Room while the generals have their way with her.” Watters later denied that the comment had a sexual meaning, saying viewers had misunderstood his remarks.

In 2017, Watters was also criticized for a comment about Ivanka Trump. He later said his remark about liking the way she spoke into a microphone was intended as a reference to her voice and was not meant as a sexual joke.

For now, O’Donnell appears to have no plans to give Watters the interview he wanted. Her message to the Fox News host was straightforward: if he wants to talk, he should go through her publicist.