.png)
Jim Thornton, the long-running Wheel of Fortune announcer, was reportedly suspended after alleged pedophilia chatroom photos prompted an investigation.
On Thursday, TMZ published photos they claim are screenshots of Thornton’s laptop that were taken by a passenger on an American Airlines flight in May from Charlotte to Los Angeles. The passenger who took the photos told the outlet that she saw images and texts that made it appear to be a chatroom for pedophiles.
The Hollywood Reporter has not vetted TMZ’s photos.
The passenger also told TMZ that she notified a flight attendant regarding the alleged messages and shared the photos with them. The captain reportedly then notified authorities, who questioned Thornton once the flight landed at LAX. He was then free to leave, according to TMZ.
THR has reached out to the Los Angeles Airport Police Department for more details.
In response to the new screenshots, Allison Hart, an attorney for Thornton, told TMZ that the Wheel of Fortune announcer had “become active in suicide-prevention advocacy since losing a close family member to suicide two years ago, and he has spent time visiting chat rooms offering support to individuals suffering from suicidal ideation.”
She added that Thornton was sent a link to a different chatroom, lifeline.chat, from someone he knows at the suicide prevention group. Lifeline.chat is for people with pedophilic thoughts. Once he realized what the chatroom was, he left, according to his attorney.
Hart said the website is “not unlawful, there is no unlawful child pornography or other pedophilic content, and my client never viewed, downloaded or consumed any child pornography whether on that commercial flight in May or at any other time.”
She noted that Thornton was never arrested or charged with a crime, and that law enforcement determined no crime had occurred when they spoke to him after his flight landed. Hart stated, “In short, my client did nothing wrong.”
Earlier this week, Sony Pictures Television told THR that Thornton was suspended while an investigation is conducted into unspecified allegations.
“We have recently been made aware of allegations concerning Jim Thornton,” the company said in a statement. “He has been suspended from Wheel of Fortune and we are recasting while we conduct a thorough investigation.”
Thornton has been the game show’s announcer since 2011.
English (US) ·