Ken Jennings had big shoes when he followed Alex Trebek as the host of Jeopardy!.
Now he finds himself in the middle of a fierce controversy.
And Jeopardy! fans were furious when host Ken Jennings made this controversial decision.
Ken Jennings made a controversial ruling that left Jeopardy! fans up in arms
Most of the rulings that Jeopardy! host Ken Jennings makes are black and white.
But a recent ruling on the hit game show sparked backlash from fans.
Contestant Kelly Proulx buzzed in to answer a clue in the category “Waterfalls.”
“A Yosemite fall with a wispy ribbon of water that flutters in the air like a diaphanous cloth bears the name of this marital wear,” the clue stated.
Proulx answered, “What is Bridalveil Falls?”
Her answer was rejected by Jennings for adding an “S” at the end.
“No, I’m sorry,” Jennings replied. “It’s actually Bridalveil Fall, so we couldn’t take that. It is, ‘What is a Bridalveil?’”
Proulx – the returning champion – lost the game, but the answer likely wasn’t a factor in her defeat because of the size of fellow contestant Isaac Hirsch’s lead.
And all three players missed the answer in the Final Jeopardy round.
Jeopardy! fans on the show’s Reddit page slammed the “brutal call.”
“Wow, Kelly was robbed. That ruling on Bridal Veil Fall/ Falls was ridiculous. Adding the S seems to fall firmly in ‘yea, we’ll take that’ territory,” a comment read.
“I typically give long and wide deference to the judges, but f*** the judges for that ruling. There is nothing pinning the clue to ‘fall’, so she got the required information correct. That was positively disgusting,” another commenter wrote.
One fan said that Proulx should hold a “grudge” over the ruling.
Ken Jennings weighs in on the controversial ruling
Jennings admitted that he made a “very harsh ruling” by not accepting “Falls” on the Inside Jeopardy! Podcast.
“We had some real fireworks in that game,” Jennings said. “Well, all three of you played well. It was not a foregone conclusion until the very end.”
He praised the three contestants on the episode – Dana Kean, Proulx, and Hirsch.
“Well, all three of you played well,” Jennings said. “It was not a foregone conclusion until the very end.”
“Sadly, ‘Bridalveil Falls’ with the ‘S,’” Jennings told Proulx.
“I’m glad it didn’t hinge on my very harsh ruling on the ‘S,’” Jennings added.
Proulx took it in stride and laughed at his response.
This wasn’t the only recent controversial ruling that happened on the long-running game show.
Contestant Matt Brooks from Fredericksburg, Virginia buzzed in on the category “Taking You to School.”
“Anatomy: This hollow, tubular structure, also called the voice box, contains both true and false vocal cords,” the clue red.
Brooks answered with “larynx.”
But he mispronounced it.
Jennings heard him mispronounce the answer but accepted it anyway, which caused controversy with fans.
Contestants are at the mercy of Ken Jennings and the judges when it comes to answers that are close calls.
