Ken Jennings is a rock star — the one officially (more or less) determined the greatest Jeopardy! contestant of all time. Earlier this year he even defeated his closest competition, namely James Holzhauer and Brad Rutter. But he’s also human, and he’s also on Twitter. And when you’re both of those things, there’s a good chance you’ve said some pretty dumb things, in public.
On Wednesday, the penultimate day of this historically crappy year, the popular know-it-all — who will soon host some Jeopardy! episodes in the wake of Alex Trebek’s passing — decided to make amends over some unfortunate tweets he let loose in a different time. One of the, from 2014, found him making this joke: “Nothing sadder than a hot person in a wheelchair.” He’s apologized for it before, back in 2018. But it resurfaced last month, and though Jennings deleted it, he thought it best to own ot it up rather than bury his past.
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. Sometimes they worked as jokes in my head and I was dismayed to see how they read on screen. 1/x
— Ken Jennings (@KenJennings) December 30, 2020
“I just wanted to own up to the fact that over the years on Twitter, I’ve definitely tweeted some unartful and insensitive things,” Jennings wrote in what proved to be a Twitter thread. He continued:
“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. 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!” he continued. “Sometimes I said dumb things in a dumb way and I want to apologize to people who were (rightfully!) offended. 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.”
But I think that practice may have given the impression I stand by every failed joke I've ever posted here. Not at all! 3/x
— Ken Jennings (@KenJennings) December 30, 2020
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. 5/x
— Ken Jennings (@KenJennings) December 30, 2020
Though Jennings is, again, hosting certain upcoming episodes, no full-time Jeopardy! replacement has been named after Trebek’s passing in November.
(Via EW)
