Viewers Think Ken Jennings 'Tricked' a Contestant Into Losing
Another day, another Jeopardy controversy.
This week, host Ken Jennings found himself once again at the center of some game show drama after fans online accused him of tricking a contestant into betting the majority of his winnings on a misleading clue.
The contestant, Alex Gordon, who is a medical student from New York, bet almost everything he had after finding the Double Jeopardy clue in the category called "Stitch Incoming."
Before placing his bet, Jennings asked Gordon, "How confident are you in a medical category, Alex?"
Gordon went on to bet $12,000 of his $15,000 winnings, only to lose it all when he answered incorrectly to the clue that read, "Joba Chamberlain used the scar from below the elbow surgery named for his fellow pitcher as part of a smiley face tattoo."
Missed Jeopardy! this week?
Check out our highlights to catch up!: https://t.co/uwfjvdjZz3 pic.twitter.com/9U2ojwAScW— Jeopardy! (@Jeopardy) July 8, 2023
While Gordon guessed Joe DiMaggio, the correct response was actually Tommy John, which caused some viewers to find Jennings' remarks about it being a medical question a bit deceiving.
"@KenJennings sure suckered Alex Gordon with what was supposed to be a medical question but was really sports related," someone wrote on Twitter after the episode.
"it was more a sports question. Felt bad for him," another person tweeted, while others agreed that Jennings' comment to Gordon is what caused him to bet so much.
"Jennings asked how confident are you in your medical knowledge? Challenging contestants should not be your jobI feel like you cost him the game!" another user added.
Someone else chimed in, saying, "#Jeopardy pulled a d--k move by slipping in a baseball question when everything else in the category was medical related. I think if @KenJennings kept his mouth shut, #AlexGordon would only have bet $5000," someone else chimed in.
"His comment influenced such a big bet...was basically saying, this is your area of expertise, so you should know it...was more of sports question, than medical question," another person echoed.
Others seemed to think that Jennings wasn't in the wrong at all, and that the clue still had a medical element to it.
"What's he to do? He could have made a good decision, not bet too much, and answered an extremely easy question correctly. Not Ken's fault," one person countered on Twitter.
But the backlash online likely isn't bothering him much anyways, as Jennings just earned his first Emmy nomination for his work on the long-running show.
As announced this week, both Jennings and Mayim Bialik have been nominated for Outstanding Game Show Host. The beloved show also received nods in the Outstanding Game Show category as well.
Next: Fans Are Upset Jamie Lee Curtis Wasn't Nominated for an Emmy–Here's Why