‘Jeopardy’ Fans Critical Of Ken Jennings’ “Cringe-Worthy” Assisted Living Facility Joke: “Nothing Like A Little Casual Ageism From Ken Jennings”

Ken Jennings‘ slight at seniors has not aged too well in the eyes of Jeopardy! fans.

The current host of the trademark trivia show riled up viewers on social media following Thursday night’s (Nov. 9) episode. According to Yahoo! Entertainment, contestant and youth services librarian Jen Jazwinski opened up about how her grandma watched when she previously competed on the show.

“When I did that, her entire home where she lives was watching, and they stood and gave her a standing ovation during that part of the show,” she shared.

Jennings replied, “That’s great. And that means a lot in assisted living. Standing up: not easy… for all those people.” While his quip elicited laughter from the audience, he ultimately added, “I would assume.”

Fans took to X (the platform formerly known as Twitter) to express their thoughts on the joke, which many deemed tasteless. One fan called it a “cringe-worthy reply,” while another went a little harder on Jennings, writing, “Really? Nothing like a little casual ageism from @KenJennings – it’s difficult for people in assisted living to stand up? Disappointed.”

Jennings came under fire in 2020 for previous insensitive tweets, one of which read, “Nothing sadder than a hot person in a wheelchair.”

Hey, @Jeopardy , since the beginning of the new season, we have had to watch day after day of tournaments. It’s getting ridiculous. When are you bringing back normal Jeopardy and more importantly:

WHEN ARE YOU BRINGING BACK MAYIM BIALIK?

Ken Jennings needs to go 👇🏻 pic.twitter.com/Storgkuwbu

— Christine (@guelphgirlchris) November 8, 2023

He apologized back in 2020 for his “unartful and insensitive” posts, adding, “sometimes they worked as jokes in [his] head and [he] was dismayed to see how they read on screen.”

He decided to leave them up online, explaining, “deleting them felt like whitewashing a mistake.”

Nonetheless, some still found Thursday night’s joke funny.

Oh my Gawd @KenJennings! A standing ovation is a big deal at an Assisted Living Facilit. I paraphrase, but we get the idea! 🤣 #Jeopardy

— Julie London Ferguson (@DearBubbie) November 10, 2023

And others were torn between laughing and cringing.

@KenJennings just made a joke about people in assisted living and I didn’t know whether to laugh or cringe so I did both. #funny #tasteless @Jeopardy

— Dawn Taylor (@Chailey88Taylor) November 10, 2023

Jennings recently described himself as “a little more of a Pat Sajak” than an Alex Trebek on Justin Long’s Life is Short, saying, “Alex was such a genius at being the host of Jeopardy — you really cannot do better than that. But as a kid I was always like, ‘Pat’s more fun, Pat jokes around with the three people.'”

He continued, “I’m a little more of a Pat Sajak where I’m like if I say one more thing, please end it with a joke.”

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