‘Jeopardy!’ Host Ken Jennings Schools Fan Who Blasted Him as A “Disgrace” for Crossing the Picket Line

By Samantha Nungesser @samjnungesser
Published Aug. 14, 2023, 3:52 p.m. ET

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Don’t mess with Ken Jennings! The oftentimes snarky Jeopardy! host fired back at a viewer who blasted him as a “disgrace” for crossing the picket line amidst the Writers’ Guild of America (WGA) strike.

When the strike first began in early May, Jennings picked back up on his hosting duties when Mayim Bialik, who is a member of SAG-AFTRA, stepped away to back the strikers. Now that Season 40 is set to begin filming this week, fans are growing antsy over Jennings’ return to the hit game show.

“@KenJennings. You’re a disgrace if you’re trying to cross picket lines,” one social media 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.”

However, the late Alex Trebek did, in fact, work during a 2007 strike — and Jennings was sure to point that out to the viewer when he posted Sony Pictures’ statement regarding their approach to the upcoming season in response.

“Jeopardy! has a long history with and tremendous respect for the WGA and our writers,” the statement began. “We have always been careful to honor our WGA agreements and we would never air game material not created by WGA writers.”

Aside from using recycled material written before the WGA strike started, Jeopardy! will also air new 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 said. “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.”

This isn’t the first time Jennings has come under fire for crossing the picket lines. Last month, fans urged the quiz show champion to step away from hosting for the upcoming season. Their calls came just months after he received backlash for taking over for Bialik during the last week of filming for Season 39.

While it looks like Jeopardy! Season 40 is going full steam ahead, the show previously announced that they will not produce a Tournament of Champions “until the strike is resolved.”

Jeopardy! airs on weeknights at 7/6c. Check the website for local listings.