A video showing ESPN reporter Britt McHenry verbally attacking a tow truck company cashier for her weight, lack of education, no skill set has blown up into a national story. The story of how this all went down starts in Arlington, Virginia at a parking lot where McHenry says she was eating at a Chinese restaurant called Hunan. That’s when Advanced Towing (the locals claim that the towing company is horrible and has a history of shady business practices) comes into the story. They towed McHenry’s car and leads us to the video that has been leaked today.
@ARLnowDOTcom in the Hunan parking lot, where I ate dinner. On a Sunday night!
— Britt McHenry (@BrittMcHenry) April 6, 2015
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The attendant, named Gina Michelle, warned McHenry that she was being recorded and she wasn’t lying. Gina has spent the last 10 days or so trying to get the story into the hands of the local media, finally succeeding with the video. She’s been pretty active on Facebook where she claims to have been blocked from posting to McHenry’s Facebook wall.
Gina wrote on April 6:
I have the entire transaction on video tape of Brittany McHenry. I have her insulting the dispatcher telling her to lose weight and belittling her for doing her job. As a woman in the public eye and posting on her Facebook page about negative words hurting others, is this appropriate? She parked her car and came back 2 hours after the establishment closed (meaning she was not a customer the whole time) and insulted another woman’s weight. Is THIS ok?
And when I post the video you’ll say I deserved to be called fat. Bottom line is she got towed. She should not have left her car unattended in a private lot to patronize another bar. Be angry or upset, you don’t insult someone’s looks because you think you’re above them.
The bottomline: Take Uber.
Update: McHenry has apologized but not to Gina.
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.
