A Twitter controversy is heating up only a week before Jeopardy! GOAT Ken Jennings is set to take over the interim role left open after the death of long-time and beloved host, Alex Trebek.
While fans of the quiz show are preparing themselves for an emotional week of the late Alex Trebek’s last taped shows, Twitter users are sending out the call to cancel Jennings and his tenure as host after he came to the defense of pal John Roderick aka…Bean Dad.
Bean Dad earned his trending moniker after regaling Twitter with the story of torturing his 9-year-old daughter by refusing to let her eat until she figured out how to use a can opener. It took 6 hours for her to open the can of beans.
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
Trending on Twitter: Ken Jennings Is Tweeting His Way Out Of The ‘Jeopardy!’ Hosting Gig
Normally the story would end there with Roderick receiving some public shaming and backlash on his social media account. So how did Bean Dad start trending?
In a move some are describing as posting his way out of succeeding Trebek, Jennings took to Twitter to defend his Omnibus podcast co-host.
This went down like a lead balloon and soon Beangate was busted wide open with social media users digging up many of Roderick’s past tweets, posting screenshots of Roderick defending the use of racist and homophobic slurs and showing anti-Semitic sentiments while referencing Hitler.
Still, Jennings continued to defend his pal, Roderick, EVEN AFTER PUBLICLY APOLOGIZING FOR HIS OWN INSENSITIVE TWEETS only a week earlier!
I’ll take smartest slow-learners in the world for 800, thanks, Alex.
Fellow Jeopardy! The Greatest of All-time competitor, James Holzhauer also threw his hat into the ring of fire, defending the GOAT with this tweet:
“I have dug into Ken Jenning’s tweet history and can confirm he is a much better person than I am.”
But this proved to be a publicity ploy when he quickly followed up the statement with a second post:
“I’ve worked my whole life to become the most reviled person on #TheChase and I’m not about to get upstaged on the eve of the premier.”
One person who has given the whole controversy a wide berth is actor, director, and children’s television host LeVar Burton, the popular pick to take over the Jeopardy! hosting role. Many Twitter users are describing Jenning’s defense of Bean Dad and his own poor taste tweets as handing Burton the role on a silver platter.
No announcement has been made yet as to who will take over the hosting role in a permanent position but it will be interesting to see if Jennings can win back some bitterly disappointed Jeopardy! fans when he begins his temporary post on January 11.
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