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Britt McHenry, State Department Press Aide, Throws Drink at Fan During Wizards Game
Britt McHenry, a former ESPN reporter, clashed with fans at the Wizards' home game. People close to her describe harassment, and a video shows her leaving to boos.
By Marcel
Automatically translated from German · may contain errors · Read the original
Britt McHenry, a press aide at the U.S. State Department and a former ESPN reporter, threw a drink at a fan on Wednesday evening, Oct. 21, during the Washington Wizards' first home game of the new NBA season. A video obtained by the celebrity news site TMZ shows the incident at Capital One Arena in Washington.
McHenry had only been named a press aide at the State Department, under Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in September 2026. The Wizards won the game against the Milwaukee Bucks 128-116. On her public Instagram profile, McHenry describes herself as a television host and author.
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Dispute over comments about Winnie Harlow
According to an unnamed source cited by Page Six, McHenry was sitting with a companion in front of a group of loud men. They reportedly heckled Bucks player Kyle Kuzma and made disparaging remarks about his fiancée, the model Winnie Harlow. Kuzma was playing badly because his girlfriend was ugly, they allegedly said. McHenry reportedly told the men to tone it down.
The anger was then said to have turned on her: One man allegedly insulted her with misogynistic language and threw a drink at her, whereupon she threw a drink as well. The source also claimed McHenry had been drinking. People close to her gave TMZ a similar account of what led up to the incident. This account could not be independently verified.
Conflicting accounts of her exit
The video mainly shows McHenry's reaction: She throws a drink, stands up, gestures and then leaves to boos, as spectators throw fan towels after her. According to the newspaper The Washington Times, the footage also shows an usher telling her to leave and her arguing with a security guard at the entrance.
How McHenry left the arena is disputed. The Page Six source says she and the man who allegedly threw a drink at her were escorted out of the arena. People close to her told TMZ, by contrast, that she was not thrown out but went to the bar of her own accord while her companion stayed.
The State Department and McHenry's representatives have not commented so far. The arena, the Wizards and the Bucks have not responded publicly either. No arrests or police investigations are known.
Viral video caused a stir back in 2015
Before joining the State Department, McHenry worked for ESPN, including on the shows "SportsCenter" and "Outside the Lines," before leaving in 2017 during a wave of layoffs. She later worked as a commentator at Fox News and Fox Nation. She filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Fox, which was settled confidentially.
McHenry first became widely known in 2015 through a viral video. In it, after her car was towed, she berated an employee of the towing company and insulted her over her education, her job and her appearance, among other things. ESPN suspended her for a week as a result.