'Jeopardy!' Former Star Contestant and Host Ken Jennings Is No Stranger to Controversy

Fans of the popular game show Jeopardy! know the name Ken Jennings almost as well as they know the name Alex Trebek.

Ken was once one of the most winning contestants on the show, sweeping a jaw-dropping 74-game run before he finally lost to fellow contestant Nancy Zerg.

These days, he's the host of the show, having taken over for Alex and interim co-host, former Blossom and Big Bang Theory star Mayim Bialik. He's been a popular choice to take over the role from Alex after his passing in 2020, but his time at the helm has not been without controversy.

Here's what we know about why people keep dragging Ken into drama and how he just keeps stepping in it.

First and foremost, Ken has been very outspoken about his politics. This means that his opinion isn't always popular, especially on conservative-leaning X (formerly Twitter).

Yet on Bluesky, which often caters more to liberal users, he seems to have found his people. In the past, Fox News reports, he has issued apologies for making unflattering posts about President Donald Trump and his family.

And then there are questionable decisions when it comes to Jeopardy! clues that Ken has taken some lumps for.

In one situation, a contestant wrote a mostly illegible response to the Final Jeopardy! clue. Ken accepted it, which led to a pretty strong backlash after fans said the other contestant was "robbed." The answer, which should have read "Columbia," read instead, "Cdumlaq" (excerpt via Collider). It was a bit of a leap, but Ken was willing to accept that contestant Rishabh knew the answer.

Then there was the time when he made a joke about a dying Star Wars fan who passed away shortly after being granted a special early screening of The Force Awakens in 2015, per IndieWire. Ken tweeted at the time, "It can’t be a good sign that every fan who has seen the new Star Wars movie died shortly thereafter."

He later apologized for the tweet, but it added to a pattern of "tweet first, apologize later" behavior that earned Ken some criticism through the years.

Unfortunately for Ken, his public missteps don't stop there.

Back in 2021, when the producers of Jeopardy! were considering him to permanently replace Alex, he came under fire after a 2014 tweet resurfaced of Ken making some not-so-kind comments about people who use a wheelchair.

In the 2014 tweet, PageSix reports, Ken wrote, "Nothing sadder than a hot person in a wheelchair."

Then, in 2018, Ken addressed it. He wrote on X, "I never did a public flogging for this, but I did apologize personally to angry/hurt people who reached out personally."

This isn't exactly an apology, and not everyone was thrilled with his response to the original post.

On a YouTube report about the controversy, fans were divided over whether to forgive Ken or not.

One user wrote, "People can be canceled for literally existing 10 years ago tf."

Another agreed, writing, "People are way too sensitive these days." They added, "That was a very mild post."

Another user said it was clear that Ken was "a well-mannered dude" who never meant to hurt or offend.

Despite public outrage over the 2014 post, Ken was in fact awarded the role of Jeopardy! host full-time, and continues to helm the show. Regardless of controversies, it seems as though he's in it for the long haul.