Former ESPN reporter Britt McHenry reminisced about “some personal life drama,” including a past incident where she was captured on video lashing out at an employee of a towing company in Washington, D.C.
During a recent installment of her “Pump the Brakes” podcast, McHenry didn’t hold back about the ordeal that led to her being suspended by ESPN, detailing how a video of the incident, which rocked social media in 2015, resurfaced recently on TikTok.
“(The video) was highly edited, it was highly doctored, there’s a reason that tow truck company never gave up the full video,” said McHenry, who was laid off by ESPN in 2017. “Had I known the alleged reports they were trying to sell (the video), I would have easily cut them a check for $20-30K, easily, just to not deal with the bulls–t from it.”
McHenry made headlines back in 2015 when she was seen in a leaked video lashing out at a towing company employee, insulting the employee about her personal appearance, education and job.
The company towed her car on Easter Sunday while she was out with friends.
McHenry, now 38, called the towing place “shady” and said they asked for cash after towing her car.
“Prior to them (the towing company) posting the video, which I was later told they sought money for,” she said. “So if you’re going to side with the tow truck company people, they wanted $20K-plus, allegedly. They were shopping it to the local news stations. … This is not the tow truck yard that saves you in a snowstorm or a hurricane.”
“… Stealing people’s expensive property is no honest work to me and it never will be and you know what spam the f–k out of me because I’m telling the truth.”
McHenry, who said the tow company employee also insulted her, explained she still blames herself for the situation.
“I will always kinda own it but I look back and I don’t think that video is that big of a deal… I feel like people get canceled every hour on social media,” she said.
“What? I said things that are true. If college degrees don’t mean anything why do we go to college? If looks don’t mean anything, then why do you have models and people that work in television and people that can’t?”
ESPN suspended McHenry for a week after the video was made public, and she issued a public apology on social media.
McHenry recalled how the incident occurred “at the height of me killing it” in her first year working at the worldwide leader.
“It never cost me my job. I’ve made more money since, got hired to other networks,” said McHenry, who currently hosts a show on WTTG Fox 5 in Washington. “Nobody cares, in real life, but it is hard from a mental health perspective, when one night in your life, you don’t act perfect, you get mad, like every human on earth, and it’s not only videotaped, but it’s chopped up and edited [with] subtitles.
“It was so clearly done to hurt me and it kind of amazes me that others don’t see that… I was never able to talk about what happened.”
McHenry went on to explain that the incident didn’t “ruin me,” and that she’s turned down interview opportunities about the matter.