AMERICA'S favorite quiz show Jeopardy! continues its daily broadcasting even after the death of host Alex Trebek.
Some Jeopardy! fans believe no one will ever measure up to Trebek, the show has booked several guest hosts for 2021.
Did a Jeopardy! contestant make the white power symbol during the show?
Jeopardy! contestant Kelly Donohue said the gesture he made that looked like a white power sign was a "terrible misunderstanding."
Fans and ex-contestants of the quiz show were outranged that producers did not catch Donohue flash the "white power hand sign on the show".
Donohue took to Facebook on April 29 to respond to claims that he made a racist gesture during an episode that aired the night of April 27.
He apologized for the confusion it caused.
"I’m truly horrified with what has been posted about me on social media. I absolutely, unequivocally condemn white supremacy and racism of any kind.
"People who know me personally know that I am not a racist, but for the public at large it bears repeating: I am not a racist and I reject and condemn white supremacy and all forms of bigotry for the evil they are," Donohue wrote.
"It’s shameful to me to think anyone would try to use the stage of Jeopardy! to advance or promote such a disgusting agenda.
"During the taping of my fourth episode, I was simply raising three fingers to mark my 3rd win. There was nothing more I was trying to indicate.
“I deeply regret this terrible misunderstanding. I never meant to hurt a soul and I assure you I am no friend of racists or white supremacists,” Donohue added.
The apology comes after hundreds of past Jeopardy contests penned an open letter about Donohue’s gestures.
What did ex-contestants of Jeopardy! say about Donohue's flash?
The game show's ex-contestants are outraged producers "did not catch winner Donohue flash white power hand sign on the show".
On April 28, a Medium letter was published by "J! Contestant Letter" where 539 former contestants, signed and backed the fact that the recent contestant proved problematic on two different occasions – one worse than the other.
The letter, which also condemned Donohue and the show’s writers over the use of a derogatory term for the Roma, states that Donohue “held his thumb and forefinger together with his other three fingers extended and palm facing inward, and he tapped his chest.”
“This, whether intentional or not, resembled very closely a gesture that has been co-opted by white power groups, alt-right groups, and an anti-government group that calls itself the Three Percenters,” the letter said.
The letter also acknowledged that Donohue had, on previous episodes, flashed one- and two-finger signals to mark his first and second wins.
“Regardless of his stated intent,” the letter writers insist, the #3 gesture “is a racist dog whistle.”
Who is the guest host of Jeopardy! this week?
CNN journalist Anderson Cooper is currently the guest host Jeopardy!.
Cooper, 53, will be guest hosting Jeopardy! from April 19-30, 2021.
60 Minutes correspondent Bill Whitaker is taking the reins after Cooper is through.
The TV journalist is scheduled to appear as a Jeopardy! guest host from May 3 to May 14.
Actress Mayim Bialik will take on the job after Bill.
The Big Bang Theory thespian is supposed to act as guest host from May 31 to June 11.
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