Wheel of Fortune announcer Jim Thornton has been fired from the game show.
“Following a thorough investigation, Jim Thornton’s employment with Wheel of Fortune has been terminated, effective immediately,” a Sony spokesperson told Us in a statement on Friday, September 4.
The decision comes three days after Thornton, 61, was suspended from the show due to undisclosed allegations made against him.
“We have recently been made aware of allegations concerning Jim Thornton. He has been suspended from Wheel of Fortune and we are recasting while we conduct a thorough investigation,” Sony Pictures Television said in a statement to multiple outlets on Tuesday, September 1.
Two days later, TMZ reported that Thornton was involved in an alleged incident on a flight from Charlotte to Los Angeles in May. According to the outlet, a passenger saw and took photos of Thornton engaging in what appeared to be a chat room for pedophiles while using a laptop on the flight. Images obtained by TMZ showed that the messages mentioned, “Couple of cute boys and a hot little girl” as well as an “All-you-can-eat Boyfett.
The passenger alerted a flight attendant and provided the photos to the crew. The captain allegedly contacted authorities, who met Thornton at the gate after the plane landed at LAX.
Thornton was reportedly questioned by the authorities before he was allowed to leave. He has not been arrested or charged in connection with the incident.
Thornton’s attorney, Allison Hart, released a statement to Page Six, claiming that the game show announcer had clicked on the website by mistake.
“My client has become active in suicide-prevention advocacy since losing a close family member to suicide two years ago, and he has spent time visiting chat rooms offering support to individuals suffering from suicidal ideation,” the statement read. “One of the sites my client has visited is 988lifeline.org, and its chat forum chat.988lifeline.org. … Through an acquaintance in the suicide prevention space, my client was misdirected to a forum with a similar URL … which my client understood to be a forum offering suicide prevention support similar to 988lifeline.org and chat.988lifeline.org.”
Hart claimed Thornton was initially unaware that the site he was accessing provided mental health support to individuals with pedophilic thoughts. Thornton allegedly left the page after realizing its content.
“When my client understood what the website was about, he left the page and has not visited since,” Hart claimed in her statement. “The website … itself is not unlawful, there is no unlawful child pornography or other pedophilic content, and my client has never viewed, downloaded or consumed any child pornography, whether on that commercial flight in May or at any other time.”
However, TMZ noted that the timestamps in the photos indicate Thornton had been in the chat room for at least 57 minutes.
If you or someone you know is experiencing child abuse, call or text Child Help Hotline at 1-800-422-4453.
