Jeopardy! fans slam host Ken Jennings after contestant allowed to change answer

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Ken Jennings is drawing anger from Jeopardy! fans after the host allowed one contestant to correct his wrong answer but denied another that same chance on an episode this week.

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Jennings, who is splitting hosting duties with Mayim Bialik for the quiz show’s 39th season, ignited social media when he asked multi-game champ Luigi de Guzman to repeat his answer.

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Under the category of “Cons”, the clue was: “Here’s a typical early 19th-century landscape by this British painter.”

De Guzman buzzed in first and answered: “Who is: Constant?”

“Say it again,” Jennings said, giving De Guzman another chance to respond after the mispronunciation.

“I’m sorry. Who is Constable? Constable.”

Jennings accepted the answer and De Guzman’s winnings swelled to $6,200.

But Jennings drew fans’ ire when he refused to let fellow contestant Harriet Wagner change her response to a question about a science-fiction author when she answered, “Who is Angela LeGuin — sorry, Ursula LeGuin.”

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“Yes, Harriet, you remembered that her name was Ursula, but I had already begun ruling against you when you began correcting yourself,” Jennings said.

The host’s flip-flop was quickly met with anger online.

“Gosh, Jeopardy — why not have a certain amount of time to answer? Harriet answered her revised answer of Ursula at least as quickly as Luigi was allowed to correct his response from Constant to Constable a few minutes earlier,” one Twitter user raged.

“Wow, is @jeopardy fixed? Why is Luigi allowed to correct himself, but Harriet isn’t?” another viewer griped.

“Jeopardy I’m not happy how #KenJennings is letting some people correct themselves and not others,” a third wrote.

Other followers accused the host of being misogynistic in disallowing Wagner’s speedy correction.

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“Why did Ken Jennings let one contestant (male) change a wrong answer, but ruled against another (female), even though she said the correct answer within the time limit? Tonight’s episode was an unfair runaway because of that ruling on the last answer in Double Jeopardy,” one person complained.

“That was totally unfair and Ken Jennings (and the ‘judges’) were absolutely wrong not to give her credit for a correct answer. Is (that) #misogyny from #Jeopardy? Sure looks like it!” another fan observed.

We should note that according to the Jeopardy! website, “Contestants may change their responses as long as neither the host nor the judges have made a ruling.”

Meanwhile, De Guzman continued his win streak pocketing $25,500 on Thursday night’s episode for a five-day total of $140,700, making him eligible to compete in next year’s Tournament of Champions.

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