Nobody feels sorry for a skinny little blonde TV bitch. I get it.
And I don’t really feel SORRY for her per se – she was wrong – on three fronts: 1. She was parked illegally 2. She forgot to act like a human being, to another human being. And 3. She works for ESPN. Know your company’s hair-trigger sensitivity to any bad PR from their talent, and learn how they virtually never stand by them in a pinch.
That said, I have real disgust for this new era of “Gotcha America” we are living in. You can say that everyone now has to assume every email is read, every text will be screen capped, every tweet will be archived, and every move you make will be captured on video.
It’s how we react to things when they do get caught on video that bothers me.
Did this story really deserve to be amongst the lead items on THE TODAY SHOW? I mean, really. This is a worthy use of time on the most watched national network morning news show?
While I understand the towing company has angry exchanges like this on every day that ends in a “y” and that they have the right to videotape towing victims to help backstop their own issues of liability and complaints on customer service – I’m not so sure they should have the right to push any such incident out into the public.
Did McHendry consent to the release of her exchange – while snotty, but hardly violent or threatening – to the public for widespread consumption? Is there no liability on the towing company if they inflict genuine economic harm on her career and livelyhood if it can be shown they had an intent to publicly embarass?
One report said the woman behind the booth had been actively “shopping” the video to media for 10 days, and carried on about it on Facebook as well. What kind of bitch does that!?
I’m sure they would claim the video was “leaked” by somebody, and that their policy is to never release such exchanges. But the damage is done.
And while the easy response is “well, it’s her fault for being such a raging bitch” that argument misses the point. While the public shaming of McHendry, with a 1-week suspension from ESPN, and a hard to calculate impact on her future career in television may seem like appropriate “punishment” for being such a petulant twat, there are easily imagined circumstances that pose bigger privacy dilemmas.
What if McHendry hadn’t leveraged her superior fitness and smile on this tow truck Helga, but instead was seen on video stumbling into the tow yard, and violently vomiting all over herself after a night of drinking? Or maybe her boyfriend was a member of a sports team she covers, and she’s seen on tape fondling and groping him while they wait for her car to pulled up?
Are those scenarios “newsworthy enough” to crank up the firehose of modern digital shame, and just shrug off the consequences by saying “well, she SHOULDN’T HAVE BEEN DOING (insert thing here) THAT!”
What “other” professionals should be deemed “shameworthy” in the public pillory the next time they call somebody a “toothless, inbred, asswipe” while on surveillance video? CEO’s? Politicians? Airline pilots? Doctors?
Eh, in the end, I don’t care. I’ll say she’s “cute” (I can’t say hot, because there’s something odd about that upper lip) and modestly decent at saying things on television. Given the choice of me watching her do a stand-up report from Redskins camp over say Sal Palantonio, I’ll take her.
Of course the Redskins won’t like that. She already made a splash last year on the RG3 locker-room kerfuffle. I can confirm with multiple sources who were there at the time, her actual REPORTING of the events were SPOT ON. But the unwritten reporter “etiquette” of how it played out, certainly went against her favor.
8 Comments
Kent Kroeger
Ms. McHendry is going to learn that her level of looks and talent can be replaced by ESPN in 10 minutes. She should never work again for a national network and frankly, she’ll be toxic in most local markets. Maybe some program director in Bismarck, North Dakota will ignore this event and gladly hire a former ESPN reporter. As for the towing lot attendant — she did nothing wrong. After the humiliation she was subjected to, I give her credit for not taking it. All blame for this event falls on Ms. McHendry. May her career rest in peace.
HozelRockit
Agree 100%. We are becoming and ends justifies the means society. Never mind if the capturing or airing of something was inappropriate or worse, invasive; if its incendiary enough let’s go ahead and publicize it. The disgust over what people are saying is being over taken by concern how it was recorded or how it was publicized.
Kent Kroeger
The towing company has the right to record its customers. The towing lot attendant may have violated her company’s rules by giving the tapes to an outside party. But that is between the employee and the company. And from what I’ve heard the company is not going to discipline the employee. Furthermore, there no violations of Ms. McHendry’s rights. Period. Ms. McHendry has only herself to blame. She is lucky she hasn’t been fired.
gep
It’s Britt McHenry FWIW. You can delete this comment after you fix it.
Jerome
But leaked elevator videos are ok, huh?
And I’m not even talking about Ray Rice.
We all had a good laugh at Jay-Z being attacked in the hotel elevator thanks to TMZ paying for the video.
Cary Clayborn
Sadly, all you need to do is have a clearly visible sign on your premises letting your customers know that they are being recorded and that any said recording can be made public.
That being said, unless the company is willing to meet you in the parking lot, away from the cameras, to complete your transaction … then you can sue if it is made public. Because you can’t force your customer inside in order to retrive their vehicle AND not give them a choice on whether they are recorded. BUT, the customer would have had to express their disapproval to being recorded from the beginning. In this case, McHendry is clearly told that she is being recorded and that it can be shown if she keeps up her stupid behavior and she obviously doesn’t care.
I agree with you that this isn’t THAT newsworthy, but I understand the backlash.
It’s the complete arrogance that bother us. The fact that she acts like this, is told that it’s being recorded and will be shown, …. yet doesn’t seem to care AT ALL! She thinks the rules don’t apply to her. She thinks there are no consequences for her actions. She clearly thinks that she is a better person than anyone who didn’t graduate college or doesn’t work on television.
Then there is that awful attempt at an apology.
Cary Clayborn
On another note ….. damn, she’s easy on the eyes. 🙂
Michael
The only thing I’d counter this with is that the tow truck lady tells her at the very beginning that she’s being video taped and she spews all of the insults after looking at the camera and knowing she’s on film. At that point, McHendry set herself up for everyone to witness the footage.