An 8th grader on 'Jeopardy' claims he was 'cheated out' of a win because of a minor error
The young contestant was not given the win for a minor spelling error, which proved costly.
July 2 2025, Published 9:46 a.m. ET
“Jeopardy!” is one of those shows where viewers dream of winning big by making the most of their trivia knowledge. But even the beloved show is not immune to making decisions that might not go down well with the fans or even the contestants. More than a decade ago, a young contestant, who was in eighth grade at the time, believed that he was cheated out of winning a certain amount of money on the show. The reason was a spelling error he made during Final Jeopardy.
The contestant was Thomas Hurley III, who had competed on the show in 2013. He had earned $9,600 by the time he reached the final round. The clue in that round was about the former American president Abraham Lincoln. “Abraham Lincoln called this document, which took effect in 1863, 'A fit and necessary war measure.’” The correct answer was the Emancipation Proclamation.
Hurley had written down just that, but there was one problem with his answer. His spelling of the word ‘emancipation’ was incorrect. Instead, he had written ‘emanciptation proclamation.’ At the time, Alex Trebek was the host of the show, and he did not give the win to the contestant. He said that the eighth-grader had mispelled the word badly and was henceforth ruled against by the judges.
The contestant had wagered $3,000, and his total came down to $6,600. If he were given the benefit of the doubt, he’d have won more than $10,000. Hurley wasn’t thrilled about it and did not hide his feelings after the show. "I was pretty upset that I was cheated out of the final 'Jeopardy!' question," he told The News-Times of Danbury, according to a USA Today report. "It was just a spelling error."
However, the producers of the show defended the decision in an email. "If Jeopardy! were to give credit for an incorrect response (however minor), the show would effectively penalize the other players,” the e-mail read. "We love presenting young people as contestants on our show and make every effort to be fair and consistent in their treatment."
Even Hurley’s mother did not like what happened to her son on national television. "He felt embarrassed," she said. "It was hard to watch." Turns out that many fans of the show felt the same way. Many of them made their discontent with the decision loud and clear in the comments section of the clip on YouTube.
“LOL - the best part of the video is that smug Trebek tells the kid he misspelled it badly by putting a "P" in it when it actually was an extra "T" that caused the error,” a user commented. “I think this wouldn't have been so controversial if he hadn't have said, "because he mispelled it badly,” added another. “People say that he would have become second either way. That's true, but if the winner did the same mistake he would have dropped down to shared first place, or second if the other kid got it right. Every other question in the game is verbal, that's why I don't think it's fair that the only written one in a kids' special is such a hard word even for adults,” one more fan wrote.
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