‘Jeopardy!’ Is in Hot Water—’Never Watching Again’
Jeopardy! has come under fire on social media over the inclusion of a clue regarding neopronouns during Monday’s Tournament of Champions quarterfinal.
During the episode, contestant Cris Pannullo selected a category called “Speech! Parts of Speech!” for $600. He was then presented with the words “Xem, Xyrs, Xemself,” to which he correctly responded: “What are pronouns?”
“Those are pronouns,” host Ken Jennings responded. “Neopronouns.”
Xem/xyrs/xemself is a set of gender-neutral pronouns that has been adopted by some people, as well as organizations. That is in addition to some of the more commonly used pronouns, such as she/her, he/him, and they/them.
The inclusion of this category on Jeopardy! sparked outrage among a number viewers, reflecting the ongoing culture war that was illustrated last year when Bud Light faced boycott calls over a marketing campaign with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
On X, formerly Twitter, the account @EndWokeness shared a clip of the Jeopardy! clue being answered alongside the caption: “Jeopardy asked about xem/xyrs/xemself ‘pronouns’ during last night’s show. How would you answer this?”
“I still watch Jeopardy every day but their questions and answers keep getting weirder and weirder,” wrote one detractor. “When [former host] Alex Trebek was still alive we never had any of this.”
Using the hashtag “#boycottjeopardy,” another X user demanded: “Get this c*** off our TV [one] show at a time!”
“@Jeopardy lost a lifetime fan over pronouns,” another stated. “Never thought you would condone mental illness for viewership.”
“Dear God, we’ve lost #Jeopardy to the woke insanity,” said radio broadcaster Mike Opelka as he also shared a clip from the show.
“Now @Jeopardy gets to be on my permanent banned list,” read one reaction, while another said that they “would immediately leave the set.”
Newsweek has contacted a representative of Jeopardy! via email for comment.
People are increasingly speaking up about their preferred choice of pronouns. In 2019, a survey from the Pew Research Center found that around one in five Americans knows someone who goes by a gender-neutral pronoun.
The Pew survey said close to a third of young Americans aged 18 to 29 personally know someone who prefers being referred to using a gender-neutral pronoun, while 73 percent in the same age bracket have heard of someone who does.
For those 30 to 49, around 19 percent said they know someone who has asked to be referred to with gender-neutral pronouns, while 65 percent have heard of someone who prefers them. For those aged 50 or above, there begins to be a drop-off in those figures.
Polling commissioned by Newsweek in April 2023 found that Millennials and Generation Z appear divided on whether workplaces should require gender pronouns in emails.
Around 60 percent of Millennial respondents between 25 and 44 were in favor of the practice. By contrast, just 40 percent of Gen Z respondents aged between 18 and 24 supported the idea.
Meanwhile, less than a third of respondents aged 45 or more agreed that workplaces should require gender pronouns in emails.
Further emphasizing the divide, the poll found that close to 50 percent of Gen Z respondents were opposed to the practice, while around a third of Millennials said pronouns should not be required on work emails. Just over 50 percent of those aged 45 or more were against the idea.
The findings came from a poll of 1,500 U.S. adults conducted by Redfield & Wilton Strategies for Newsweek.
