‘Jeopardy!’ Champ Ken Jennings Issues Apology for "Insensitive" Post About Wheelchair Users

Mar. Eight 2021, Updated 10:28 a.m. ET

Some of Ken Jennings’ past tweets are coming back to haunt him now that he’s been named the interim host of Jeopardy!. Many Twitter users, together with Community star Yvette Nicole Brown, are indignant by means of what Ken tweeted about wheelchair users in 2014.

On Twitter, Yvette criticized the scoop of Ken’s period in-between web hosting gig, and when any other person requested why, she wrote, “Peep his previous tweets and get back to me.”

Then, the Mom actress related to a 2014 tweet wherein Ken wrote, “Nothing sadder than a sizzling individual in a wheelchair.”

Posting a screenshot of the offending tweet, Yvette wrote, “Riddle me this: the callous tweet underneath through @KenJennings has been up for SIX years. A lot of people commented on it. Many have been harm via it. He even engaged with a few. But he didn’t delete the tweet until THIS week after he’s announced as period in-between @Jeopardy host. Why now?”

This wasn’t Ken's simplest Twitter controversy.

In response to outrage over the now-deleted tweet, Ken issued a mea culpa on Twitter in 2018. “I never did a public flogging for this, however I did express regret in my opinion to indignant/harm individuals who reached out in my opinion,” he wrote on the time. “It used to be a joke so inept that it meant one thing very different in my head [and] I be apologetic about the ableist undeniable reading of it.”

Unfortunately, Ken has made other ill-conceived Twitter jokes over time. In 2015, after a terminally ailing Star Wars fan died after seeing an early screening of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Ken wrote, “It can’t be a just right sign that each fan who has seen the new Star Wars movie died shortly thereafter.”

Twitter users criticized the Jeopardy! champ on the time, as TIME reported. One known as Ken’s shaggy dog story “disgusting,” and any other wrote that the publish is “just evidence that cash can’t purchase elegance. Or tact. Or first rate habits.”

Ken apologized for his insensitive tweets, but some are suspicious about the timing.

On Dec. 30, 2020, Ken as soon as once more took to Twitter to deal with his controversial comments. "Hey, I just wanted to own up to the fact that over the years on Twitter, I've definitely tweeted some unartful and insensitive things," he wrote as part of a thread. "Sometimes they worked as jokes in my head and I was dismayed to see how they read on screen."

"In the past, I'd usually leave bad tweets up just so they could be dunked on. At least that way they could lead to smart replies and even advocacy. Deleting them felt like whitewashing a mistake. But I think that practice may have given the impression I stand by every failed joke I've ever posted here. Not at all!"

"Sometimes I said dumb things in a dumb way and I want to apologize to people who were (rightfully!) offended. It wasn't my intention to hurt anyone, but that doesn't matter: I screwed up, and I'm truly sorry. If 2020 has taught us anything, it's that we should be kinder to one another. I look forward to heading into 2021 with that in mind."

While lots of Ken's fans confirmed enhance for his apology, some clearly felt the timing of it used to be slightly too handy. After all, Ken's interim role as a Jeopardy! guest host is not the only big gig he has coated up. He's also going to be one of the crucial "chasers" in the new ABC recreation display The Chase (along with fellow Jeopardy! champions Brad Rutter and James Holzhauer).

Despite the talk, Ken is still scheduled to guest-host 'Jeopardy!'

Ken will be the first in a chain of guest hosts for Jeopardy!, after lost longtime emcee Alex Trebek died of pancreatic most cancers on November 8. Alex’s ultimate episodes will air the week of Jan. 4, and Ken’s episodes will start after that.

“Alex believed within the significance of Jeopardy! and at all times stated that he sought after the show to head on after him,” stated government manufacturer Mike Richards, consistent with The Hollywood Reporter. “We will honor Alex’s legacy by proceeding to produce the sport he cherished with sensible contestants and difficult clues. By bringing in familiar guest hosts for the foreseeable long run, our objective is to create a sense of community and continuity for our viewers.”

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