Ken Jennings Gets Roasted by 5-Time ‘Jeopardy!’ Winner Over ‘Hurtful’ Moment
Ken Jennings is known for his dry sense of humor — and one Tournament of Champions winner is giving it right back.
Before becoming the official Jeopardy! host two years after Alex Trebek‘s 2020 death, Jennings, 50, famously broke game show records in 2004 — winning 72 consecutive games and becoming the highest-earning American game show contestant at the time, racking up $2.5 million in winnings.
However, despite his prestigious position as host — and his historic Jeopardy! run as a contestant — Jennings is still not getting the star treatment, he quipped in an Instagram post earlier this week.
Posting a photo of a parking sign on a brick wall — “TOC Parking Only, a valid permit must be displayed at all times,” the notice read — Jennings jokingly interpreted it as an exclusive space for contestants on Jeopardy!‘s Tournament of Champions (TOC), on which he never competed.
“Well this is very hurtful for those of us who never got invited to a Tournament of Champions,” he quipped. “Guess it’s the far end of the parking lot again for me.”
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Former TOC contestant Luigi De Guzman couldn’t help but roast Jennings in the comments section.
“*taps sign* move along, Jennings,” he ribbed.
De Guzman, per TV Insider, won five consecutive Jeopardy! games in 2022 — winning more than $100,000 in the process — before moving on to the 2024 Tournament of Champions in 2024, where he was knocked out in the semi-finals.
Jennings, for his part, has put his sense of humor on display both on Jeopardy! and social media for years. Most recently, he made headlines for taking a shady swipe at the game show — and its initial decision to have executive producer Mike Richards as Trebek’s successor — via a BlueSky repost comparing how the papal conclave should choose a new pope after Pope Francis‘ death in April.
