Video footage of a State Department press aide throwing a drink at a spectator during a Washington Wizards game led to her departure from the position. Her role at the department dated to a September start, with McHenry, now 40, joining the staff at that point.
Her professional background, as reflected on her LinkedIn profile, included a stint contributing to The Spectator alongside on-air news anchor roles at both a prominent television network and ESPN. Breaking the news of McHenry's departure was a television outlet that positioned itself among the prominent names in broadcast journalism.
McHenry told a broadcaster that a resignation letter had been submitted, while an unidentified source separately told another outlet that the departure had not been voluntary and that a promotion and a termination had both occurred within the same 24-hour window. A request for comment directed to McHenry by The Washington Sun had not received a response by the time of publication.
When a news outlet sought comment, the State Department indicated it does not address internal personnel matters. The episode itself traces back to Capital One Arena, where Washington's Wizards opened their home schedule against the Milwaukee Bucks on a Wednesday night.
According to one broadcast outlet, a spectator directed taunts at Kyle Kuzma — a forward now on the Bucks' roster after his time with Washington — who is also engaged to model Winnie Harlow. Harlow lives with vitiligo, an autoimmune condition that causes patches of skin to lose pigmentation across different areas of the body, while an unnamed source told a broadcast outlet that some people had been attributing his on-field struggles to his girlfriend's appearance.
When McHenry told the fan to settle down, nearby spectators turned to look in her direction. Video recorded at the venue and obtained by a news outlet captured McHenry tossing a drink at a man in the crowd, while those around him called for her removal. She left the arena gesturing to the audience with waves and blown kisses.
Objects were hurled in McHenry's direction as she vacated her seat. A press adviser role covering Europe and Africa was filled by McHenry through a State Department appointment, and that day a promotion into a new role had already taken effect for her.
At an earlier point in her career, she took on the communications work surrounding a controversy tied to Kimberly Guilfoyle — one in which Guilfoyle reportedly sought a Trump donor's financial backing to clear roughly $100,000 in credit card debt, a request that preceded her appointment as U.S. ambassador to Greece. McHenry's departure from the post took effect on October 13.
A 2015 suspension from ESPN followed for McHenry after recorded footage of her exchange with a towing company worker spread widely online, during which she directed the question at him of whether he took any satisfaction from the work he did. The question arose whether the same outcome would be achievable for someone who had left university without a degree.
In the footage recorded while her vehicle was being towed, she questioned whether her intelligence was the reason she was treated differently, suggested that a different physical appearance might have led to better employment prospects, and contrasted her television career with the other person's living situation.
