Multiple 'Jeopardy' contestants team up to troll Ken Jennings in the most unexpected way

With James Holzhauer in the lead, Amy Schneider and Andrew He decided to joke around.

PUBLISHED JUL 14, 2025

Screenshots showing the three contestants writing their answers and Ken Jennings' reaction to the prank (Cover image source: YouTube/ABC)

"Jeopardy!" host Ken Jennings has been loved by fans since he was a star contestant on the show. But that doesn't stop players from sharing a few laughs at his expense, even if it means roasting him in the process. On one occasion, two out of the three players on the panel decided to play a prank on him during 'Final Jeopardy' of the Masters Tournament. In the final round, players Amy Schneider and Andrew He wrote down jokes as their answers, as they knew they couldn't catch up with James Holzhauer. The prank was so good that it took Jennings some time to figure it out.

Screenshot showing Ken Jennings' reaction to the jokes (Image source: YouTube/ABC)

Holzhauer, Schneider, and He were competing for the win to take home 3 points from the day. By the final round, it seemed like Holzhauer had built up a runaway lead with a total of 54,000 points, with He in second place with 9,600 points and Schneider in third place with just 3,000 points. Thus, going into Final Jeopardy, Schneider and He knew they couldn't improve their positions, but they had the perfect opportunity to play a prank on the host.

The category was "French Author," for which Jennings presented the clue and gave the players 30 seconds to write down their answers. Once the time ran out, Jennings started with Schneider, who had written, "Why not two points for finishing second?" as her answer.

Screenshot showing Schneider's answer (Image source: YouTube/ABC)

This was a subtle jibe at the show as it awarded the winner of the day with three points while the player in the second place got only a single point. Schneider, who was set to get 0 points in the end, didn't wager anything as she just wanted to pull off a prank. "It would have changed the leaderboard quite a bit, you're right. I think we wanted to reward the ultimate winner. So we're not gonna be able to give you credit for that thought-provoking question, Amy, but it doesn't matter," Jennings said in response to her answer.

Screenshot showing Jennings talking to Schneider (Image source: YouTube/ABC)

The host then moved on to the player in the second place, who wrote a rather funny answer. "Stop! He's dead already!" He's answer read, as a reference to a popular show, "The Simpsons." He perhaps used the meme to highlight the situation he was in, where he could not possibly catch up to Holzhauer's lead. "A 'Simpsons' reference for Final Jeopardy. I like it. Can't give you credit for that French author either. You wagered also nothing," Jennings said. "I see what's going on here," the host further noted.

Screenshot showing He's answer (Image source: YouTube/ABC)

Lastly, Jennings moved on to the leader, Holzhauer, who was the only player to make a genuine attempt. "The one contestant playing by the rules," Jennings noted before reading the answer. The player wrote down, "Who is Camus?" which was unfortunately incorrect. Despite wagering 32,608 points, Holzhauer still won the show with 21,392 points. In the end, Jennings enlightened the panel and the audience with the right answer. "'Planet of the Apes' was written by French author Pierre Boulle," he shared.