ESPN reporter Britt McHenry suspended after temper tantrum caught on video
ARLINGTON, Va. -- ESPN suspended reporter Britt McHenry on Thursday after a video surfaced of her insulting a towing company clerk's intelligence, job and appearance.
ESPN spokesman Josh Krulewitz said in a statement that McHenry has been suspended for a week.
McHenry, a Washington-based reporter for the sports network since March 2014, turned to Twitter to apologize.
"In an intense and stressful moment, I allowed my emotions to get the best of me and said some insulting and regrettable things," she tweeted Thursday. "As frustrated as I was, I should always choose to be respectful and take the high road. I am so sorry for my actions and will learn from this mistake."
The Associated Press attempted to contact the towing company, but calls were picked up and abruptly disconnected.
In a Twitter exchange with ARLnow.com earlier this month, McHenry said her vehicle was towed from the lot in front of the Arlington restaurant where she ate dinner.
The edited video posted this week to video sharing site LiveLeak claims to show McHenry berating the clerk on April 5 with gems like: "Maybe if I was missing some teeth, they would hire me, huh?"
McHenry tells the woman she is "in the news" and will sue the company. At one point a woman off-screen warns McHenry she is being recorded. McHenry then looks up wide-eyed into the camera, before the video cuts to another insult in which McHenry disparages the clerk's education and weight.
We don't know the whole story. When looking into her big brown eyes I can't help thinking there might be eyewitnesses that saw something that made her statements acceptable. She may not even have said the words we hear. The clerk might have been a ventriloquist.
I prefer to give Ms McHenry the benefit of the doubt until I know both sides of this issue...
