Jim Thornton, the longtime announcer for “Wheel of Fortune,” has been fired from the ABC game show following allegations that he was photographed viewing what a fellow airline passenger described as a pedophile chat room during a flight in May.
A Sony Pictures Television spokesperson confirmed the termination in a statement to E! News on Sept. 4, saying, “Following a thorough investigation, Jim Thornton’s employment with Wheel of Fortune has been terminated, effective immediately.” The firing came one day after photos surfaced publicly showing the alleged chat room content. E! News said it reached out to Thornton’s attorney for comment on the termination but had not received a response.
Thornton, who joined “Wheel of Fortune” in 2011 before Ryan Seacrest succeeded longtime host Pat Sajak, had already been suspended by Sony on Sept. 1 while the company investigated previously undisclosed allegations against him.
Those allegations trace back to a May flight on American Airlines from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Los Angeles. A fellow passenger later told TMZ she saw Thornton using his laptop during the flight in what she believed was a chat room for pedophiles. Photos obtained by TMZ reportedly show Thornton seated with his laptop open to a chat displaying messages referencing a trip to a Golden Corral restaurant, including comments describing seeing children at the restaurant and calling it an “all-you-can-eat Boyffet.” The chat also allegedly contained a reference to “CP,” which the passenger who reported it believed stood for child pornography, along with other sexually explicit messages.
Thornton’s attorney, Allison Hart, disputed the characterization of the material in a statement to TMZ, saying the chat room is “not unlawful” and that “there is no unlawful child pornography or other pedophilic content.” She said, “My client never viewed, downloaded or consumed any child pornography whether on that commercial flight in May or at any other time.”
Hart said Thornton has been “active in suicide-prevention advocacy” and had been visiting chat rooms intended to support people experiencing suicidal thoughts. She said an acquaintance from that group sent him a link that led to a different chat website containing sexual content. “When my client understood what the website was about, he left the page and has not visited since,” Hart said. TMZ reported, however, that photos indicated Thornton remained in the chat for approximately 57 minutes.
According to Hart, American Airlines confirmed that law enforcement met Thornton’s flight upon landing at Los Angeles International Airport in May in response to the passenger’s complaint. Hart maintained that officers determined no wrongdoing had occurred. “When questioned about the complaint made by a fellow passenger on the flight,” she told TMZ on Sept. 1, “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.”
No criminal charges have been reported against Thornton in connection with the incident, and he has not been convicted of any wrongdoing. His attorney has consistently denied that he engaged in any unlawful conduct.
It remains unclear whether the matter will be subject to further investigation by law enforcement or whether additional details will emerge as Sony’s internal review concludes.
Source: Eonline.com
