Britt McHenry has a new gig, and it has nothing to do with sports or TV.
The former ESPN reporter who went viral in 2015 when video surfaced of her berating a tow lot employee has accepted a job with the U.S. Department of State, she announced on Wednesday, September 9.
“It is true,” McHenry, 40, wrote via X. “I am honored to serve as a newly appointed press advisor to the State Department, our country’s highest diplomatic institution. Proud to serve for and work alongside some truly incredible people.”
McHenry’s job will entail “collaborating with Global Public Affairs,” and developing “strategies to address media concerns and enhance public understanding of agency initiatives,” she wrote in the job description section on her LinkedIn page.
“I am beyond excited to start this new chapter today and am thankful to every person who helped me in pursuing and achieving this opportunity,” she wrote in a separate LinkedIn post on Wednesday. “For 17 years, I have worked on camera covering the news. Now, I get to take that experience and apply it to our country’s highest diplomatic agency.”
She continued, “As a fellow Floridian, I have followed and admired Secretary Marco Rubio’s political career from its inception to the outstanding leadership he shows today in the Administration. He has appointed an exceptional staff, and I look forward to serving them and our nation.”
McHenry joined ESPN in 2014, covering a variety of sports, including baseball and football. The network suspended her for one week in 2015 after the tow lot video went viral, showing her insulting the employee’s appearance, job and education.
“In an intense and stressful moment, I allowed my emotions to get the best of me and said some insulting and regrettable things,” McHenry wrote via X after the incident. “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.”
ESPN let her go in 2017 as part of additional layoffs, though she tweeted a year later that it was because she was “white and paid too much.”
McHenry joined Fox News in 2018 and later sued her cohost George Murdoch, alleging sexual harassment through a series of lewd text messages. Fox News claimed it had already investigated and resolved the complaint before McHenry filed the lawsuit in 2019.
She voluntarily dismissed the lawsuit in 2021 and left the network. Since then, she had been working part-time for The Spectator and RealAmericasVoice, according to her LinkedIn page.
