Jesse Watters announces WNBA boycott and makes crass sex toy comment

Sian JonesFri, October 23, 2026 at 12:21 PM UTC

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Fox News Jesse Watters says he will boycott the WNBA -Credit:Fox (Fox)

Jesse Watters has announced he's going to boycott talking about the WNBA, saying he doesn't care about the league, before making a crude sex toy remark and admitting that he "doesn't mind" women's basketball because his daughters play.

During Wednesday's episode of The Five, the panel discussed the latest developments in the dispute between former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom and the WNBA. Kanter has previously claimed he should be allowed to play in the league as part of his campaign against transgender athletes in women's sports, and was involved in a verbal altercation with a player before being removed from an arena.

Earlier on Wednesday, Kanter said he had received a letter from the WNBA informing him he was ineligible for the draft. He was also reportedly removed from the WNBA Finals after declining an offer to watch the game from a suite.

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As other panel members discussed the story, Fox News host Watters expressed frustration at having to cover the controversy, saying he no longer wanted to push the story.

“Wake me up when someone throws a sex toy back on the court,” Watters said. “I hate the story. I hate the WNBA. I don’t watch it. No one watches it. They average under a million viewers during the regular season, and it’s boring. And the only time we talk about it is like, they fouled the white star too hard, or someone wore a T-shirt.”

Fellow panelist Greg Gutfeld then attempted to reignite the discussion by referencing Atlanta Dream players who walked back to the locker room during the national anthem. However, Watters remained uninterested in pursuing the topic.

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“OK, great,” Watters said. “No one saw it because no one’s watching. I don’t want to push this story anymore! I want to leave this story alone! I am no longer talking about the WNBA. As of now, I boycott this segment. I will just cede my time to anybody but Greg.”

This is not the first time Watters has expressed reluctance to discuss WNBA controversies that have attracted significant attention from conservative media in recent years.

In August, amid the backlash surrounding Sophie Cunningham's comments that reignited the debate over transgender athletes in women's basketball, the Fox News host also indicated he wanted to move on from the story.

“This is week three of The Five covering the WNBA, and I have to say, I’m done,” Watters said. “I hate the WNBA. I don’t mind women’s basketball.

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"My girls play basketball, but I don’t want to cover women’s basketball. I don’t want to be a WNBA analyst. We get paid to have an opinion about everything. And this is something I don’t care about.”

Claims that “no one watches” the WNBA are at odds with its recent viewing figures. Regular-season viewership reached a 26-year high, with several games attracting millions of viewers, while the WNBA Finals have also recorded record audiences, even without Caitlin Clark.

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Source: “AOL Sports”