Former ESPN reporter and U.S. State Department press adviser Britt McHenry has faced controversy before. Now, she is at the center of renewed attention after video appeared to show her in a heated exchange at an NBA game before she threw a drink at a fan.
The incident occurred Oct. 21 at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., during the Washington Wizards’ matchup with the Milwaukee Bucks. In the footage, McHenry appears to pick up a drink and throw it toward a fan before being escorted from the arena. Sources told TMZ that she reacted after fans seated behind her allegedly made inappropriate remarks about Kyle Kuzma’s fiancée, Winnie Harlow.
Two experts have now offered their interpretations of the video.
Nicola Hickling is the founder of LipReader, a company that specializes in lipreading and expert witness reports. She has helped develop technologies and services for people with hearing impairments and has provided analysis for outlets including the Daily Mail, Newsweek, and Page Six.
Speaking on behalf of Casino.org US, Hickling shared her reading of the footage with Showbiz Cheat Sheet. According to the lip-reading expert, “McHenry confronts someone filming her, demanding, ‘How dare you film me?’” Hickling also believes the former sports journalist appears to say, “I work for him. I am famous, so f*** you, baby.”
Hickling said the confrontation appears to intensify as McHenry’s male companion tries to calm her, telling her, “Listen to me. Don’t react. It ain’t worth it.” The expert also interpreted McHenry as attempting to negotiate her departure by saying, “Maybe I can stand outside, and we can talk this through.” As McHenry moves through the doors, Hickling reads her final comment as a defiant “F*** you.”
Inbaal Honigman is a body-language expert who has spent more than 20 years appearing in the media. She has discussed the behavior of pop-culture figures for programs and outlets including Big Brother’s Little Brother, Elle Magazine, and talkSPORT radio.
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Speaking to Showbiz Cheat Sheet on behalf of Casino.org US, Honigman focused on McHenry’s gestures during the confrontation. “There’s a huge, and very obvious dissonance between McHenry’s right arm and hand, and between the left. It is through that difference that we can tap into exactly what goes on in her mind,” she said.
“As McHenry walks away, escorted up the stairs, she holds her right hand aloft, over her head,” Honigman continued. “This right hand is soft and open, which is a way of proclaiming innocence. The open right hand and the raised arm say, ‘Look, I’ve got nothing up my sleeve! I’ve done nothing!’” She added that McHenry’s raised hand appears to blow kisses toward the crowd, projecting an attitude of indifference to the hostility around her.
Honigman said McHenry’s left hand conveyed something very different. “Throughout the entire scene, McHenry’s left hand is closed and tense,” she explained. “Curled around her phone and wallet, the fingers of her left hand show stress, to the point of fury.” According to Honigman, that tension remains visible throughout the available footage, suggesting anger beneath the more casual gestures of McHenry’s right hand.
She also pointed to what she described as a contrast between McHenry’s neutral facial expression and her forward-curved shoulders as she walks up the stairs. “The curled shoulders are an attempt to make herself small, to disappear from the scene,” Honigman said, noting that the posture conflicts with a facial expression designed to project indifference. “Her face says ‘whatever’ while her shoulders say ‘never ever.’”
Showbiz Cheat Sheet acknowledges that conditions and cultures can influence body language and remains sensitive to people from all backgrounds.