"Jeopardy!" Host Ken Jennings Smacks Down Fan Who Called Him a "Disgrace"
Don’t mess with Ken Jennings, especially when it comes to cold, hard facts.
Currently the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) are on strike. What this means is that writers and actors are refusing to work until Hollywood bosses agree to their terms. The idea behind a strike is that if all people in a union band together and nobody caves, then eventually the opposition will be forced to negotiate. When someone "crosses the picket line" this implies that they are willing to work with the opposition, which could hurt the union's cause. This week a fan lashed out at "Jeopardy!" host Ken Jennings for potentially crossing the picket line as the 40th season of the show amps up. However, the one-time champion had a great excuse for doing so.
When the WGA strike started in early May, Mayim Bialik, who also hosts the game show, stepped back from her duties. A long time member of SAG-AFTRA, she wanted to support the writers on the picket line.
Jennings continued hosting the hit show. There were rumors that the show wouldn't film Season 40, as all of the material from the pre-strike writers has been used up.
In anticipation of Jennings crossing the line, one social media user lashed out at him ahead of time. "@KenJennings. You're a disgrace if you're trying to cross picket lines," the user posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. "Alex [Trebek] would NEVER do anything of the sort. He would turn over his grave seeing you act like that."
Jennings responded by pointing out that the late host did in fact cross the picket line in 2007, and continued filming during the strike. "Jeopardy! has a long history with and tremendous respect for the WGA and our writers," he shared in a statement. "We have always been careful to honor our WGA agreements and we would never air game material not created by WGA writers."
During the 40th season the show will recycle material written prior to the strike and air episodes that have never been released. "However, just as we did, led by Alex Trebek, during the 2007-2008 strike, we will deliver first-run episodes again this fall," the statement continued. "Our current plan is to go into a holding pattern of sorts, pushing back the Season 39 postseason to first produce original episodes featuring the best of our WGA written material."
