Update 5:34 p.m.: The Huffington Post published a video showing the minutes leading up to the confrontation between Grim and Watters.
The White House Correspondents’ Dinner is known as a lavish, incestuous mixer where the political press, pundits and celebrities lay down arms for one night of communing.
But one Saturday night after party, hosted by MSNBC, wasn’t so peaceful, with Huffington Post Washington bureau chief Ryan Grim and Fox News correspondent Jesse Watters reportedly getting into a physical fight.
The Washington Post’s Dave Weigel first tweeted a photo of the early-morning scuffle and identified Grim and Watters as the men involved:
Brawl between @ryangrim and @jessebwatters at MSNBC party. pic.twitter.com/Fy7VKFBdmh
— daveweigel (@daveweigel) May 1, 2016
Grim said on Twitter he approached Watters while recording video on his phone, asking him about Watters confronting his Huffington Post colleague Amanda Terkel while she was on vacation in 2009.
Terkel earlier recounted her run-in with “hit man” Watters, headlined “I Was Followed, Harassed, And Ambushed By Bill O’Reilly’s Producer.”
.@dceiver there’s probably video. Ambush guy snatched my phone, didn’t like being filmed, he tried to keep it. That didn’t happen.
— Ryan Grim (@ryangrim) May 1, 2016
According to witnesses at the Foggy Bottom party, Watters didn’t take kindly to be filmed and pocketed Grim’s phone. When Grim tried to get the phone back, the two flailed around, upended a table and collided with several partygoers.
Another witness told the Washington Post, “punches were definitely thrown.”
Several bystanders, among them Sean Spicer, the Republican National Committee spokesman and frequent cable news guest, intervened to break up the fight.
Asked for comment, a Fox News spokesperson told TPM Watters would address the issue Monday night on “The O’Reilly Factor.”
