'Jeopardy' contestant 'Karen' called out for her bizarre remark on Queens, New York: "Terrifying..."

One of America's favorite game shows, "Jeopardy!" has seen a fair share of controversies lately. From sexist clues to borderline racist comments, host Ken Jennings has been forced to do damage control, ever since he took over. In one instance, a contestant came under fire for sharing what was according to her a "terrifying story" related to Queens, New York, as viewers considered it to be racist.

Back in the day, when Jennings was featured as an interim host, he was carrying out his duties of introducing the contestants. As it is common for the host to engage in casual conversations during the introduction, Jennings asked the contestant named Karen Ellestad, a Frankfort, Kentucky to narrate a terrifying incident from her childhood.

“[You] had a troubling experience as a 15-year-old in Queens, New York,” explained Jennings. “What happened?”

Ellestad, who worked as a chaplain at a Christian school in Georgia, at the time, went on to share the weird story. She explained that when she was 15 years old, she was doing a summer program in Manhattan and “didn’t know a single person in New York City". She added that she "shockingly" didn't make any friends either and spent most of her time riding the Subway around the city.

One day, the educator from the city of Frankfort said she “wasn’t paying attention” and accidentally found herself in Jamaica, Queens. “I had no idea how I got there,” she said. She explained that it was a pre-Uber, pre-smartphone era, so she had no external help. "So, a terrifying moment. Just me in abject fear," she said, concluding the story. 

While, Ellestad, who is passionate about modern European history, graphic design, and cheese did not seem to suggest anything with her story, viewers immediately took to social media to raise concerns about her comments.

After listening to her story, fans of "Jeopardy!" made a few troubling observations. They questioned why it was so terrifying for her to end up in Queens and suspected that the reason could be because it was a predominantly 'black' neighborhood. Thus, her story seemed rather racist than terrifying.

"A #jeopardy contestant named #Karen told a story on the show about how she accidentally took the subway into Jamaica, Queens and she was "terrified." That is called racism," @LBTman wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

"Watching Jeopardy and this lady told her little story about how she interned in NYC and once took the subway and ended up in Jamaica, Queens and it was the most *terrifying* thing. Her name is actually Karen... and she lives up to it," suggested @QueenBeena. 

However, there were some including the guests of the KiSS 92.5's podcast, who gave her the benefit of the doubt, claiming that for a 15-year-old, getting lost in the subway with no internet or a way to get back home could be terrifying in itself. 

Nevertheless, Ellestad failed to win the game that day, thus, nobody ever had the chance to follow up on the story again.