Op-Ed writer 'KD' has some strong words for ESPN, who has suspended 'reporter' Brittany McHenry for her attack on a poor towing company employee. (Dan Carson reports she got one week...)
Did you hear the one about the Super Hot Chick who had her car towed? By now, I bet you have. Now we are getting both sides squaring off like Floyd and Manny over what basically amounts to a shitty Saturday Night Live sketch (and trust me, that is coming).
The end result of ESPN reporter Britt McHenry unleashing her Bitch Kraken on an auto towing company employee is a one week suspension from work.
Now, the so-called feminists expectedly are saying she is only being treated this way because she is a woman, and an attractive one at that. On the other hand, the so-called chauvinists are saying that a man would be fired for a similar offense.
Both of them are wrong. The most recent precedent we have to work off is Bill Simmons, who was suspended three weeks by ESPN for criticizing NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and what he said about what he knew in the wake of the Ray Rice double suspension fiasco.
That was a very different situation. Simmons used his Grantland ESPN Corporate platform to call the head of a business partner - with which ESPN has a multi-billion-dollar symbiotic relationship - a liar, absent any hard evidence.
This was a relatively low profile employee (I had never heard of nor seen Ms. McHenry before today) in a private setting acting like an entitled, spoiled brat. She admitted as much in her, ahem, “apology” surely written by ESPN Public Relations for her to sign at the bottom.
Right after your car gets towed you are in an understandably agitated frame of mind. She probably had a few pops in her too. While it isn’t right to berate someone for doing their job, this wasn’t on company time. It also isn’t illegal to be a raging bitch. Try towing Anna Wintour’s car and see what happens.
Of course, Ms McHenry is a very attractive lady and she has probably batted her eyelashes out of a few speeding tickets in her day. That doesn’t give anybody the right to act in a completely disrespectful manner towards someone who is just doing their job. No matter how much of an inconvenience getting your car towed may be.
But this didn’t happen over a company platform, on air or via espn.com. This did not happen on the ESPN Corporate Compound parking garage up in Bristol Conn. This disagreement on her own personal time and really should have no impact on her work, other than letting everyone who doesn’t already know, what kind of a person she truly is.
As for some people saying that if a man did this, he would be fired, that makes me laugh. Especially considering ESPN couldn’t wait to hire Ray Lewis, who has pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice in a murder investigation. ESPN was in the running to hire Rex Ryan, who was caught on videotape in Miami yelling obscenities at fans as well as extending his Digitus Me’dius.
We all have bad days. Get into arguments with people. The dry cleaner lost your shirt. The restaurant gave away your dinner reservation. Netflix sent you the wrong DVD. Your car gets towed. Its Larry David’s entire life.
But ESPN suspending Britt McHenry for basically being a bitch, is an overreaction. No laws were broken. Nobody was hurt. The only punishment needed has already been levied and that is her knowledge that people like me who otherwise wouldn’t know who she was other than “oh, she’s hot!” now saying “ugh, it’s that Bitch!” every time we see her on TV. And isn’t that enough?
And McHenry, now that the video is out? She's sorry. "In an intense and stressful moment, I allowed my emotions to get the best of me and said some insulting and regrettable things. 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."
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