Jim Thornton has been fired from WHEEL OF FORTUNE.
Jim Thornton has been fired from WHEEL OF FORTUNE.
Thornton, 61, who became the hit game show's announcer in 2011, has been fired >by Sony Pictures Television Studios. "Following a thorough investigation, Jim >Thornton's employment with WHEEL OF FORTUNE has been terminated, effective >immediately," a Sony spokesperson told PEOPLE in a statement.
The news comes three days after the studio suspended Thornton and launched an >investigation into allegations made against him on Tuesday, Sept. 1.
?We have recently been made aware of allegations concerning Jim Thornton,? >Sony Pictures Television Studios previously told PEOPLE in a statement. ?He >has been suspended from Wheel of Fortune and we are recasting while we conduct >a thorough investigation.?
Thornton was detained by police at LAX after a passenger reported seeing >"disturbing message" on his laptop screen during the flight which concerned >children. The passenger took surreptitious photos of the screen and showed the >flight crew, which called ahead to LAPD.
Thornton's attorney said it was all mistake and his client had inadvertently >gone to a different website than the one he intended to access, adding that >"he did not engage in any illegal conduct, was not arrested, and has not been >charged with any crime. When questioned about the complaint made by a fellow >passenger on the flight, law enforcement spoke to him for five minutes or >less, immediately determined that no wrongdoing had occurred, and told my >client he was free to go."
On Tue, 8 Sep 2026 01:23:56 -0000 (UTC), BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com>
wrote:
Jim Thornton has been fired from WHEEL OF FORTUNE.
Thornton, 61, who became the hit game show's announcer in 2011, has been fired
by Sony Pictures Television Studios. "Following a thorough investigation, Jim
Thornton's employment with WHEEL OF FORTUNE has been terminated, effective >> immediately," a Sony spokesperson told PEOPLE in a statement.
The news comes three days after the studio suspended Thornton and launched an
investigation into allegations made against him on Tuesday, Sept. 1.
?We have recently been made aware of allegations concerning Jim Thornton,? >> Sony Pictures Television Studios previously told PEOPLE in a statement. ?He >> has been suspended from Wheel of Fortune and we are recasting while we conduct
a thorough investigation.?
Thornton was detained by police at LAX after a passenger reported seeing
"disturbing message" on his laptop screen during the flight which concerned >> children. The passenger took surreptitious photos of the screen and showed the
flight crew, which called ahead to LAPD.
Thornton's attorney said it was all mistake and his client had inadvertently >> gone to a different website than the one he intended to access, adding that >> "he did not engage in any illegal conduct, was not arrested, and has not been
charged with any crime. When questioned about the complaint made by a fellow >> passenger on the flight, law enforcement spoke to him for five minutes or
less, immediately determined that no wrongdoing had occurred, and told my
client he was free to go."
If there was no wrong doing then why was he fired? Just having clicked
on an inappropriate link shouldn't have led to him being fired. I
suppose it could be a situation where they wanted to fire the guy but
had not managed to find a proper reason. So this just played into what
they already wanted to do.
On Tue, 8 Sep 2026 01:23:56 -0000 (UTC), BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com>
wrote:
Jim Thornton has been fired from WHEEL OF FORTUNE.
Thornton, 61, who became the hit game show's announcer in 2011, has been fired
by Sony Pictures Television Studios. "Following a thorough investigation, Jim
Thornton's employment with WHEEL OF FORTUNE has been terminated, effective >> immediately," a Sony spokesperson told PEOPLE in a statement.
The news comes three days after the studio suspended Thornton and launched an
investigation into allegations made against him on Tuesday, Sept. 1.
?We have recently been made aware of allegations concerning Jim Thornton,? >> Sony Pictures Television Studios previously told PEOPLE in a statement. ?He >> has been suspended from Wheel of Fortune and we are recasting while we conduct
a thorough investigation.?
Thornton was detained by police at LAX after a passenger reported seeing
"disturbing message" on his laptop screen during the flight which concerned >> children. The passenger took surreptitious photos of the screen and showed the
flight crew, which called ahead to LAPD.
Thornton's attorney said it was all mistake and his client had inadvertently >> gone to a different website than the one he intended to access, adding that >> "he did not engage in any illegal conduct, was not arrested, and has not been
charged with any crime. When questioned about the complaint made by a fellow >> passenger on the flight, law enforcement spoke to him for five minutes or
less, immediately determined that no wrongdoing had occurred, and told my
client he was free to go."
If there was no wrong doing then why was he fired?
Just having clicked
on an inappropriate link shouldn't have led to him being fired. I
suppose it could be a situation where they wanted to fire the guy but
had not managed to find a proper reason.
So this just played into what
they already wanted to do.
On 9/8/2026 12:37 AM, shawn wrote:
If there was no wrong doing then why was he fired? Just having clicked
on an inappropriate link shouldn't have led to him being fired. I
suppose it could be a situation where they wanted to fire the guy but
had not managed to find a proper reason. So this just played into what
they already wanted to do.
"I clicked by accident" is known as a go-to excuse ...even though it can
be factual. Meanwhile, child-porn at any distance is radioactive...
On 9/7/26 9:37 PM, shawn wrote:
On Tue, 8 Sep 2026 01:23:56 -0000 (UTC), BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com>
wrote:
Jim Thornton has been fired from WHEEL OF FORTUNE.
Thornton, 61, who became the hit game show's announcer in 2011, has been >>> fired
by Sony Pictures Television Studios. "Following a thorough investigation, >>> Jim
Thornton's employment with WHEEL OF FORTUNE has been terminated, effective >>> immediately," a Sony spokesperson told PEOPLE in a statement.
The news comes three days after the studio suspended Thornton and launched >>> an
investigation into allegations made against him on Tuesday, Sept. 1.
?We have recently been made aware of allegations concerning Jim Thornton,? >>> Sony Pictures Television Studios previously told PEOPLE in a statement. ?He
has been suspended from Wheel of Fortune and we are recasting while we
conduct
a thorough investigation.?
Thornton was detained by police at LAX after a passenger reported seeing >>> "disturbing message" on his laptop screen during the flight which concerned
children. The passenger took surreptitious photos of the screen and showed >>> the
flight crew, which called ahead to LAPD.
Thornton's attorney said it was all mistake and his client had inadvertently
gone to a different website than the one he intended to access, adding that
"he did not engage in any illegal conduct, was not arrested, and has not >>> been
charged with any crime. When questioned about the complaint made by a fellow
passenger on the flight, law enforcement spoke to him for five minutes or >>> less, immediately determined that no wrongdoing had occurred, and told my >>> client he was free to go."
If there was no wrong doing then why was he fired?
If I had to guess, the investigation either looked at his web history on
the job, or possibly (skirting the law!1!) somehow got a hold of his web history from home, and determined this was not a "one-time thing".
As Sony was just looking to fire him, they likely did not release their findings to the cops or the lawyers.
Just having clicked
on an inappropriate link shouldn't have led to him being fired. I
suppose it could be a situation where they wanted to fire the guy but
had not managed to find a proper reason.
That's my other theory - that Ryan S. was looking for a reason to fire another "Pat Sajak-holdover" and seized on this to get Thorton fired so
he could install a buddy on "Wheel".
moviePig wrote in article <117p6qu$8qih$1@dont-email.me>:
On 9/8/2026 12:37 AM, shawn wrote:
If there was no wrong doing then why was he fired? Just having clicked
on an inappropriate link shouldn't have led to him being fired. I
suppose it could be a situation where they wanted to fire the guy but
had not managed to find a proper reason. So this just played into what
they already wanted to do.
"I clicked by accident" is known as a go-to excuse ...even though it can
be factual. Meanwhile, child-porn at any distance is radioactive...
The dude stayed on that site long enough for a passenger behind
him to notice and take pictures, plural. This may not be
prosecutable, but it doesn't sound accidental.
On 9/8/2026 11:25 AM, The True Melissa wrote:
moviePig wrote in article <117p6qu$8qih$1@dont-email.me>:
On 9/8/2026 12:37 AM, shawn wrote:
If there was no wrong doing then why was he fired? Just having clicked >>>> on an inappropriate link shouldn't have led to him being fired. I
suppose it could be a situation where they wanted to fire the guy but
had not managed to find a proper reason. So this just played into what >>>> they already wanted to do.
"I clicked by accident" is known as a go-to excuse ...even though it can >>> be factual. Meanwhile, child-porn at any distance is radioactive...
The dude stayed on that site long enough for a passenger behind
him to notice and take pictures, plural. This may not be
prosecutable, but it doesn't sound accidental.
Maybe he should try "I was conducting research"...
Thornton's attorney said it was all mistake and his client had inadvertently >gone to a different website than the one he intended to access, adding that >"he did not engage in any illegal conduct, was not arrested, and has not been >charged with any crime. When questioned about the complaint made by a fellow >passenger on the flight, law enforcement spoke to him for five minutes or >less, immediately determined that no wrongdoing had occurred, and told my >client he was free to go."
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