Britt McHenry was removed from an NBA game after a drink-throwing altercation with a heckler.
The former ESPN reporter, 40, attended Wednesday night’s Washington Wizards-Milwaukee Bucks matchup at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., with a male friend when a group of men seated behind them grew rowdy, a source close to the situation said. The men were described as “getting loud and obnoxious” during the game.
One of the hecklers began targeting Bucks forward Kyle Kuzma, who is engaged to model Winnie Harlow. “They were saying he plays terribly because his girlfriend’s ugly,” the source claimed, adding that the man said other “terrible” things about Harlow.
McHenry turned around and told the heckler to “ease up,” but that only “turned the attention toward her,” the source said. The man then allegedly began hurling “misogynistic” comments at McHenry and “threw a drink on her,” according to the source, who further claimed McHenry had been “drinking” throughout the evening.
The situation “became very heated” and McHenry allegedly “responded by throwing a drink” back at the man, the source said. Both individuals were escorted out of the arena, and the source noted that “everyone saw” the commotion.
Reps for McHenry and the U.S. Department of State declined to comment when reached by the outlet. Reps for Capital One Arena, the Wizards and the Bucks did not immediately respond to inquiries.
The incident marks another public confrontation for McHenry, who has faced scrutiny over her behavior in the past. She was infamously suspended from ESPN in April 2015 after video surfaced of her berating a towing company employee in D.C. After her vehicle was towed.
“Do you feel good about your job? So I could be a college dropout and do the same thing? Why, cause I have a brain and you don’t?” she ranted in the footage.
“Maybe if I was missing some teeth they would hire me, huh? … ‘Cause I’m on television and you’re in a f–king trailer, honey.”
Before storming out, she added, “Lose some weight, baby girl.”
McHenry was ultimately fired from ESPN two years later. After the viral video resurfaced in April 2024, she insisted it had been “highly edited” and “highly doctored.”
“I will always kinda own it, but I look back, and I don’t think that video is that big a deal. I feel like people get canceled every hour on social media,” she said at the time.
“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?”
McHenry later joined the Trump administration as a press adviser. Her role at the State Department became public knowledge as she continued working in communications following her television career.
The Wednesday night incident drew arena-wide attention as both parties were removed from their seats, though no formal statements have been issued by any involved organization regarding potential consequences or follow-up action.