Equality for all is something we should support.
That’s no grand revelation.
Yet this axiom popped fresh after watching
Britt McHenry, the ESPN reporter, berate a female towing company employee on a video that went viral. McHenry got what amounted to a slap on the wrist, receiving a one- week vacation, er, suspension after the video surfaced last week.
Let us be clear here: If Chris Berman, Mike Tirico, Mike Breen or any other male ESPN voice was caught on video telling a hard working woman, “I’m on television and you’re in a f---ing trailer honey,” and adding other graphic put-downs, they would have received a lot more than one week on the bench.
It would be no surprise if they would’ve been flat-out fired. In this particular case, McHenry had gender on her side. At least that’s our perception.
The problem McHenry has now, one she has brought on herself, is the perception not only viewers, but the people she covers will have of her once she returns to the air and moving forward.
The video confirmed her entitled brat status. She delivered an assortment of choice put-downs like: “Maybe if I was missing some teeth they would hire me, huh?” And of course there’s the memorable, “Lose some weight, baby girl.”
With the world of sports, and those covering it, spending time condemning bullying on the field and in the clubhouse, the video revealed ESPN has one on its staff.
Interestingly, all of McHenry’s lines were delivered with the kind of commitment and emotion she rarely displays while working her gig.
In fact, before this video surfaced, McHenry was a relative nobody on the campus of Bristol Clown Community College.
Now she is well known. For being a self-absorbed jerk.