#Jeopardy Guest Host Ken Jennings Apologizes for Insensitive Tweets

Ken Jennings is apologizing for insensitive comments he made ahead of his debut as guest host of Jeopardy.

“Hey, I just wanted to own up to the fact that over the years on Twitter, I’ve definitely tweeted some unartful and insensitive things,” he wrote, adding:

“Sometimes they worked as jokes in my head and I was dismayed to see how they read on screen.”

“In the past, I’d usually leave bad tweets up just so they could be dunked on. At least that way they could lead to smart replies and even advocacy,” the champion continued. 

“Deleting them felt like whitewashing a mistake.”

“But I think that practice may have given the impression I stand by every failed joke I’ve ever posted here. Not at all!’

Jennings did not address specific tweets in his apology, but he did say that he had “screwed up,” and vowed to “be kinder” in 2021.

“Sometimes I said dumb things in a dumb way and I want to apologize to people who were (rightfully!) offended,” he said.

“It wasn’t my intention to hurt anyone, but that doesn’t matter: I screwed up, and I’m truly sorry.”

“If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that we should be kinder to one another. I look forward to heading into 2021 with that in mind,” he concluded.

Jennings was announced as the first guest host of Jeopardy! following the death of Alex Trebek.

Controversial tweets resurfaced last month, with one involving him posting about “hot” people in wheelchairs.

“Nothing sadder than a hot person in a wheelchair,” Jennings wrote in 2014.

This is not the first time Jennings has brought up the ableist comments he made.

He previously spoke out in 2018.

“I never did a public flogging thing for this but I did apologize personally to angry/hurt people who reached out personally,” he tweeted at the time.

“It was a joke so inept that it meant something very different in my head & I regret the ableist plain reading of it!”

Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.