'Jeopardy' fans call out host Ken Jennings for making an ‘awkward’ joke at returning champion

Ken Jennings is usually seen as one of the most supportive and polite hosts on TV, and fans and contestants are all praises for him. But he once had a foot-in-mouth moment on "Jeopardy!" when he called out a fan favorite contestant for losing a crucial round in the game. Mehal Shah conquered the game show in November 2024 as a challenger. He went up against returning champion Mikey McCulla and continued with a winning streak for two days straight, earning a total of $46,062. However, his luck ran out on the third day with a silly mistake, which led Jennings to poke fun at the unfortunate debacle. 

During the Final Jeopardy! round of the game show, Shah was pitted against Adam Hersh, an attorney, and Courtney, an elementary school teacher. As per The Mirror, Hersh took the lead, gaining $5,200 after solving a Daily Double clue in the “French-Named Food And Drink” category. Shah, being competitive, came in next with $4,400, and Courtney failed to open any earnings during the round. However, Shah soon gained $7,200, placing him first, followed by Hersh, who made $5,800, and Courtney with $2,400. During the 'Double Jeopardy!' round, Hersh made it clear that he was not going to let Shah steal the thunder. He finished with $16,000 after guessing the Daily Double right.

Shah made $14,400 and Courtney gained $8,400 before the 'Final Jeopardy!' round. The contestants then got the final chance to compete for the "Movies and Psychology" category. "In this film, Paula Alquist tells Gregory Anton, ‘Have you gone mad, my husband? Or is it I who am mad?" Jennings presented them with the clue. In this round, the elementary school teacher revealed the right answer, “What is Gaslight?" and doubled her earnings to $16,800. However, Shah wrongfully guessed "Foile á Deux", the faux pas let Hersh take the lead as a winner with a total earnings of $29,000. Jennings took the opportunity to shade Shah with a sarcastic comment, “What is folie de deux? The Joker movie?” he said in jest. “Not correct. What did you wager? Everything. You drop down to zero,” Jennings added. 

Fans supporting Shah were disappointed and called out Jennings for his rude timing on a Reddit thread. "All three of these contestants were amazing. I'm just so sad to see Mehal lose!" a fan lamented. Another fan criticized: "'The Joker movie?' LOL damn Ken chill" “Did anyone else think Ken’s Joker joke was awkward timing? I know he didn’t mean anything by it but Mehal looked so sad,” a die-hard fan said. “Read the room, Ken, not the time to joke when his dream just got crushed,” a viewer slammed. Surprisingly, Shah took time to respond to the Reddit thread and labeled his wrong answer as "brain-dropping".

"I wasn't making a Joker reference in FJ. I was initially thinking about the act of Gaslighting, and knew it was related to a movie. Gaslighting Abbie is a Steely Dan song (from the album that won Steely Dan their only Grammy), but I couldn't get a movie from there," he explained. "Then I started wondering if the movie was about two people with a shared delusion, and put Folie a Deux thinking it might work. It didn't, and I leave 0/3 on Final Jeopardy!. I did explain this to Ken during the credits sequence, and he no longer thinks I'm some weird Joker fanboy," he added.