Ken Jennings has again found himself in hot water with Jeopardy! fans after he made what many believe was a rather questionable ruling.
Controversial ‘Final Jeopardy!’ Ruling
During the “Final Jeopardy!” round at the end of Wednesday’s episode, the category was “College Towns.”
Jennings read the prompt, which was, “Two schools in the Southeastern Conference are located in cities with this same name but in different states.”
In the episode, champion Rishabh, an Illinois native who is currently a sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania, was taking on environmental attorney Jay Eversman and associate professor Rachel Cassidy.
Rishabh and Rachel each answered correctly with “What is Columbia?” After wagering $9,801, Rishabh came out victorious with $20,201 for his two-day win.
But how he won seems a little on the sketchy side!
Related: Ken Jennings Admits Hosting “Jeopardy!” Is Hard After Getting Trolled By Contestant
Fans Fire Back
Fans of the show, however, were not having any of Jennings ruling. They argued that what Rishabh had written down was “totally illegible.” Indeed, his written answer appeared to be a jumble of letters after he scribbled out his original answer. In contrast, Rachel clearly wrote down “What is Columbia?” in a way that was much easier to read.
Take a look at Rishabh’s answer. Does that look like “Columbia” to you?
“I can read maybe 2 of these letters Ken Jennings. That poor lady got ROBBED!” one social media user commented. Another added, “Man I just do not know if that said ‘Columbia.’ I guess if it’s good enough for Ken though.”
“It spells ‘Cdumlaq,’” a third user bluntly wrote. A fourth person stated, “My ruling was that his response was illegible. Apparently my rulings have very little influence.”
“I think him saying ‘I wrote Columbia’ before the answer was revealed affected Ken’s decision honestly. Because once he said that you could kind of see what he was writing, but had Ken had to make it out on his own?” another Jeopardy! fan commented. “I don’t know if it would have counted.”
Some fans suggested that Jeopardy! have contestants type out their answers, rather than write them down. Which, frankly, sounds like a great idea!
“It’s beyond time for contestants to have a keyboard for FJ,” someone commented.
Jennings’ Future On Jeopardy! Is Uncertain
This could not have come at a worse time for Jennings, whose future on Jeopardy! is currently uncertain.
Earlier this week, sources told The Mirror that Jeopardy! producers are no longer sure if they want to keep Jennings on as the host of the game show.
Executives have reportedly noticed that ratings on Wheel of Fortune have spiked in the weeks since Ryan Seacrest took over as host from Pat Sajak. This has led them to become curious as to whether they could make the same thing happen with Jeopardy!
Jennings is vulnerable to being fired at all times. This is because he does not have a long-term contract for the $4 million hosting gig on Jeopardy!
“Of course Ken wants to do this for the next twenty years, but he’s going to have to get comfortable with only being renewed one or two years at a time for the foreseeable future,” another source previously explained. “Sony is keeping him in the hosting job but they are also keeping their options open.”
Full Story: Ken Jennings Reportedly ‘At Risk’ Of Being Fired From ‘Jeopardy!’ Over Ratings
This latest controversy likely won’t do much to help Jennings’ chances of staying on Jeopardy! Only time will tell how this turns out for him!
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