Britt McHenry | |
|---|---|
 McHenry at FedExField in August 2015 | |
| Born | Brittany May McHenry May 28, 1986 Mount Holly, New Jersey, U.S. |
Brittany May "Britt" McHenry (born May 28, 1986) is a television personality. She is the host of a show on WTTG Fox 5 in Washington, D.C. [1] [2] McHenry was formerly an ESPN correspondent and a commentator on Fox Nation. [3]
McHenry, the daughter of an Air Force Lt. Colonel, [4] [5] was born in Mount Holly Township, New Jersey, and grew up in Satellite Beach, Florida, where she graduated from Satellite High School in 2004. [6] A four-year varsity starter for the women's soccer team, she was teammates with future United States women's national soccer team player, goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris. [7] McHenry attended Stetson University and played on the Hatters soccer team as a midfielder for the 2004 season. [8] [9] She also spent time as a model in college, working for the Wilhelmina Models agency. [4] After graduating magna cum laude in 2007 from Stetson, McHenry went on to Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. At Medill, she started covering stories in Chicago, Illinois. [10]
On February 27, 2020, McHenry revealed via Twitter, that on February 25, she was diagnosed with a brain tumor and that "surgery is imminent". [11] [12] [13] She had brain surgery on March 4, 2020. [14]
After graduating from Medill School of Journalism, [15] McHenry began her career working for WJLA-TV, ABC Television's Washington affiliate, and its sister station NewsChannel 8 as a sports reporter and fill-in anchor. After two weeks at Fox Sports San Diego as a dugout reporter on the San Diego Padres telecasts, she returned to ABC 7. [16]
In March 2014, she left ABC7 to join ESPN as a Washington, D.C.–based bureau reporter. She served as correspondent for various shows including SportsCenter , Outside the Lines , NFL Live and Baseball Tonight . [17] On April 27, 2017, McHenry announced on Twitter that she was being let go by ESPN, with the NFL Draft being her last assignment. McHenry was part of a 100-person layoff that included Ed Werder, Jayson Stark and Jay Crawford. [18] [19] In May 2018, McHenry tweeted that she was fired because she "was white and paid too much." [3]
In 2019, McHenry accused FOX co-host and wrestler Tyrus of sexual harassment after he allegedly sent her a series of lewd text messages. [20] According to Fox News, the matter was investigated and resolved. However, on December 10, 2019, McHenry filed a sexual harassment suit [21] against Fox News and Murdoch. Subsequently, McHenry claimed that she lost the phone containing text messages she says are central to her claims. [22] In July 2021, she voluntarily dismissed the lawsuit and left the Fox network, apparently as part of a legal settlement. [23]
On April 16, 2015, a video of McHenry verbally berating and mocking a tow lot employee, Gina Michelle, using foul language was posted on LiveLeak. [24] McHenry later apologized on Twitter:
In an intense and stressful moment, I allowed my emotions to get the best of me and said some insulting and regrettable things... I am so sorry for my actions and will learn from this mistake. [25]
In response to the incident, ESPN suspended McHenry from the network for one week. [26] A day later, the towing company released a statement saying they did not want to see McHenry suspended or terminated as a result of her comments. [27] [28] [29]
