Many people check into Jeopardy, the popular game show. However, a recent episode saw social media users face-palming after a personal anecdote from one of the contestants got interpreted the wrong way.
Ken Jennings, stand-in host on the show, started out the episode on Monday with contestant Karen Ellestad, who works in Georgia as a chaplain and hails from Frankfort, Kentucky.
He introduced her by saying that she ‘had a troubling experience as a 15 year old in Queens, New York. What happened?’ Ellestad went on to say that it had happened during a summer program she completed in Manhattan.
‘I didn’t know a single person in New York City, and I didn’t make any friends in the program. So I would spend my time riding the subway around the city.’ However, one day she found herself in Jamaica, Queens after ‘not paying attention’ to her route.
She described herself as going through ‘a terrifying moment. Just me in abject fear.’ Fans of Jeopardy were quick to take to social media and unpack their thoughts, questioning why a white woman would say she felt terrified in a predominantly non-white neighborhood.
One user simply said ‘That is called racism’, while another said ‘sure glad you lost’. A third user said ‘Her name is actually Karen…and she lives up to it.’
