Social media is full of potentially bad PR for those in the public eye, and the host of a popular game show recently got a taste of it. Jeopardy! host Ken Jennings has come under fire for liking a tweet about Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin’s appearance at the Grammys.
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Jennings Liked Tweet Making Fun Of Justin Bieber And Hailey Baldwin
Jennings was far from the only person laughing at the famous couple’s outfits. Bieber wore a big, baggy suit on the red carpet, accessorized with clunky, oversized boots and a neon pink beanie. Many people poked fun at his look, especially in relation to his wife’s glamorous white strapless gown.
One joke that gained a lot of likes and retweets was a photo of Bieber and Baldwin with the joke, “Lesbian couples in Williamsburg.” The tweet has over 40,000 likes and 2,500 retweets. One of the many who “liked” the tweet? Jennings.
An eagle-eyed fan noticed that the game show host had liked the tweet, posting a screenshot on Reddit with the caption, “Yikes…Ken liked this tweet.” People in the comments section agreed.
One person wrote, “There is plenty to make fun of with that suit- no need to insult the LGBTQ community and the comment is not even funny, not sure why Ken would bother giving this trash quip a like.” Another commented, “thats really offensive? Not cool.”
Jennings’ Controversial Past On Social Media
The reason why many found him liking the tweet so distasteful is because of Jennings’ past social media scandals. In 2020, the former Jeopardy! contestant was about to be named interim host of the show. However, some old tweets of his came to light, which caused a delay in choosing a permanent host for the game show.
The tweet that caused the most commotion was from 2014, which read, “Nothing sadder than a hot person in a wheelchair.” Jennings quickly apologized for his past comments, saying, “I just wanted to own up to the fact that over the years on Twitter, I’ve definitely tweeted some un-artful and insensitive things. Sometimes they worked as jokes in my head and I was dismayed to see how they read on screen.”
He continued, “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.”
While the 2014 tweet was the most notorious, people flagged other posts from the host, including one about a terminally ill Star Wars fan who saw The Force Awakens before he passed away in 2015, and one that made fun of former president Donald Trump’s son Barron in 2011. Both tweets have since been deleted.
Even though this latest controversy was just from a tweet Jennings liked, with his history on social media, maybe the game show host should take a break from Twitter.