Former ESPN reporter Britt McHenry says she threw a drink at a man after he said “something truly vile to me” during an incident at a Washington Wizards game last week that reportedly led to McHenry resigning from her job with the U.S. Department of State the following day.
Video footage, posted by TMZ, from the Wizards’ game against the Milwaukee Bucks on Oct. 21 at Capital One Arena shows McHenry talking to a male companion and an usher from her seat while fans seated around her can be heard making negative comments about her and chanting, “Kick her out!”
As McHenry and her friend eventually start to leave on their own, a clear liquid can be seen hitting or coming close to hitting her on the back of the head. She then throws a drink of her own. As she makes her way up the stairs, McHenry gives the middle finger and blows kisses to the crowd as some people heckle and throw towels at her.
On Tuesday, McHenry posted a video on Instagram giving her side of the story. She said that a man sitting in front of her was making “egregiously loud” and “vile” comments toward Bucks forward Kyle Kuzma about the appearance of his fiancée, model Winnie Harlow, who has the skin condition vitiligo.
“I then make a snarky comment — probably shouldn’t have, but everyone behind me laughed — and just said, ‘Oh, I’m sure your girlfriend’s really beautiful, right?’” McHenry said. “Guy in that row, whether he was with that man or not, turns around and says to me, ‘Why don’t you shut the f— up, you dumb b—,’ quoting him, to which I say to him, like, ‘I wasn’t even talking to you. Who are you?’ And that’s where it escalates.”
McHenry says she and her friend, whom she identifies as Andrew, left their seats and went to a foyer, where an usher offered to move them to seats in another part of the arena.
“But I say to Drew, you purchased $250 to $300 a piece tickets,” McHenry said. “Why should we have to move because these men around us can’t behave and are heckling and harassing me. No, we’re going back. In hindsight, I wish we would have left.”
After they returned, McHenry said, people started throwing drinks at them.
“And the main agitator says something truly vile to me about what should be done to me, allegedly about getting gang raped outside,” McHenry said, “and that is when I threw the rest of my beer in that direction, turned around, and said, ‘Drew, let’s get out of here.’”
One video shows McHenry later speaking with a security worker near one of the venue’s entrances. When he gestures toward the exit, she appears stunned and asks, “What did I do?”
McHenry does not mention this encounter in her video and says she decided to leave the arena. But, she said, the “main agitator” was thrown out. Monumental Sports & Entertainment, which owns and operates the Wizards and Capital One Arena, did not immediately respond to questions from The Times about the incident.
McHenry worked at ESPN from 2014 to 2017, then spent several years with Fox News. In September, she announced on social media that she was working as a press advisor for the State Department.
Page Six reported Friday that McHenry had been “forced to resign” the previous day. McHenry then told Front Office Sports that she signed a resignation letter. The State Department told both publications that it does not comment on internal personnel matters.
McHenry, who did not mention her employment status in her video, doesn’t seem to have any regrets about her behavior that night.
“I was sticking up for Winnie Harlow, a woman that I admire, and many women and young girls look up to,” McHenry said. “And I was sticking up for myself.”
Britt McHenry says ‘truly vile’ remark sparked drink-throwing incident
Former ESPN reporter Britt McHenry says she threw a drink at a man after he said “something truly vile to me” during an incident at a Washington Wizards game last week that reportedly led to McHenry resigning from her job with the U.S. Department of State the following day.
Video footage, posted by TMZ, from the Wizards’ game against the Milwaukee Bucks on Oct. 21 at Capital One Arena shows McHenry talking to a male companion and an usher from her seat while fans seated around her can be heard making negative comments about her and chanting, “Kick her out!”
As McHenry and her friend eventually start to leave on their own, a clear liquid can be seen hitting or coming close to hitting her on the back of the head. She then throws a drink of her own. As she makes her way up the stairs, McHenry gives the middle finger and blows kisses to the crowd as some people heckle and throw towels at her.
On Tuesday, McHenry posted a video on Instagram giving her side of the story. She said that a man sitting in front of her was making “egregiously loud” and “vile” comments toward Bucks forward Kyle Kuzma about the appearance of his fiancée, model Winnie Harlow, who has the skin condition vitiligo.
“I then make a snarky comment — probably shouldn’t have, but everyone behind me laughed — and just said, ‘Oh, I’m sure your girlfriend’s really beautiful, right?’” McHenry said. “Guy in that row, whether he was with that man or not, turns around and says to me, ‘Why don’t you shut the f— up, you dumb b—,’ quoting him, to which I say to him, like, ‘I wasn’t even talking to you. Who are you?’ And that’s where it escalates.”
McHenry says she and her friend, whom she identifies as Andrew, left their seats and went to a foyer, where an usher offered to move them to seats in another part of the arena.
“But I say to Drew, you purchased $250 to $300 a piece tickets,” McHenry said. “Why should we have to move because these men around us can’t behave and are heckling and harassing me. No, we’re going back. In hindsight, I wish we would have left.”
After they returned, McHenry said, people started throwing drinks at them.
“And the main agitator says something truly vile to me about what should be done to me, allegedly about getting gang raped outside,” McHenry said, “and that is when I threw the rest of my beer in that direction, turned around, and said, ‘Drew, let’s get out of here.’”
One video shows McHenry later speaking with a security worker near one of the venue’s entrances. When he gestures toward the exit, she appears stunned and asks, “What did I do?”
McHenry does not mention this encounter in her video and says she decided to leave the arena. But, she said, the “main agitator” was thrown out. Monumental Sports & Entertainment, which owns and operates the Wizards and Capital One Arena, did not immediately respond to questions from The Times about the incident.
McHenry worked at ESPN from 2014 to 2017, then spent several years with Fox News. In September, she announced on social media that she was working as a press advisor for the State Department.
Page Six reported Friday that McHenry had been “forced to resign” the previous day. McHenry then told Front Office Sports that she signed a resignation letter. The State Department told both publications that it does not comment on internal personnel matters.
McHenry, who did not mention her employment status in her video, doesn’t seem to have any regrets about her behavior that night.
“I was sticking up for Winnie Harlow, a woman that I admire, and many women and young girls look up to,” McHenry said. “And I was sticking up for myself.”
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These are our 5 favorite places to drink in L.A. in 2026. A handful of watering holes stand out for excellent wine and cocktails, plus an ambitious coffee destination.
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NFL now says it’s OK to celebrate by pretending to drink a beverage
Raise your pretend glasses, Kyle Juszczyk and Jake Ferguson, and chug the imaginary beverages of your choice. Your recent five-figure fines have been rescinded!
The NFL and the NFL Players Assn. released a joint statement Wednesday to clarify some of the on-field celebrations that are and are not allowed during NFL games.
Of particular significance to San Francisco 49ers fullback Juszczyk and Dallas Cowboys tight end Ferguson is this sentence: “Recent celebrations imitating drinking a beverage will not be considered violations or result in discipline.”
Juszczyk had been fined $29,852 after celebrating two catches during a Sept. 20 win over the Miami Dolphins by pantomiming the act of drinking a beverage, something he’s done for years. The league initially ruled it an “imitation of chugging a beer” that “constituted an offensive demonstration and could reasonably be construed as being in poor taste.”
“I wasn’t drinking beer in my celebration,” Juszczyk told reporters on Sept. 24. “I think you guys all know my nickname is Juice. I have Juice on my pads. The stadium yells ‘Juice!’ when I catch the ball. When I celebrate, I celebrate by drinking juice, and it’s been that way for years. So I was surprised as anybody when I got a fine this week.”
Ferguson was fined $13,611 for a similar celebration during a Cowboys win over the Washington Commanders also on Sept. 20. The fifth-year player later said that his invisible drink was actually Gatorade.
The fines to Juszczyk and Ferguson had been reported as rescinded before the joint statement from the league and its players union came out. Colts offensive lineman Matt Goncalves also should be off the hook for his fine of $8,847 for a similar celebration during a game against the Kansas City Chiefs on the same day. His fake beverage of choice for that particular celebration, Goncalves has said, was Coke.
It seems like the NFL realized players could claim to have been demonstrating their love for anything from water to a wild huckleberry mint mojito mocktail and decided to let this one go. As for the still-prohibited celebrations, those include gestures that depict violence (including the use of guns/weapons and gang-related signs), imitate smoking or drug use, or are sexual in nature
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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