Wheel Of Fortune Announcer Jim Thornton Suspended, Fired After Alleged Incident On Flight

Edited 9/2/26 with a statement from Thornton’s attorney.

Edited 9/3/26 with more details about the incident on the flight.

Edited 9/4/26 with information about Thornton’s firing.

Jim Thornton, the announcer of Wheel of Fortune, has been suspended by Sony Pictures Television Studios. TMZ was the first to report about the suspension.

Sony Pictures Television says, “We have recently been made aware of allegations concerning Jim Thornton. He has been suspended from Wheel of Fortune and we are recasting while we conduct a thorough investigation.”

Initial reports from TMZ and Thornton’s attorney share the same facts: an alleged incident took place in May, when Thornton was taking a commercial flight to Los Angeles. Another passenger complained about him to a flight attendant, and the pilot ensured that law enforcement was at the gate when Thornton arrived at LAX. Thornton was wearing a Wheel of Fortune jacket while officers questioned him, but he was released after some time. As of now, very little is known about the incident, but American Airlines has confirmed that a passenger had complaints about him.

In a statement to TMZ, an attorney representing Thornton says the announcer “did not engage in any illegal conduct, was not arrested, and has not been charged with any crime. When questioned about the complaint made by a fellow passenger on the flight, 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.”

On September 3, TMZ released another article with more details about the incident. According to the new article, Thornton was flying from Charlotte to Los Angeles, and a nearby passenger looked over at his laptop. They took several pictures that showed Thornton participating in a chat room for pedophiles. Thornton’s lawyer, Allison Hart, says that he’d “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.”

Thornton says that while he was visiting one of these chat rooms during his cross-country flight, an acquaintance sent him a link to another chat room, which serves as a support group for people with pedophilic thoughts. Thornton claims that he left the chat as soon as he realized what it was meant for, but the timestamps indicate that he was on the site for at least 57 minutes, if not longer.

Photos from the flight obtained by TMZ indicate that the laptop that Thornton was using was using the Tor browser, a privacy-forward browser often used to anonymously browse “dark web” websites. The screenshots also indicate based on the interface, that Thornton was using the handle NicholasB77. Alerts seen in the screenshots indicate that NicholasB77 has moderator permissions in that chat room, and unverified screenshots allegedly depicting a post from the website showcases that NicholasB77 was posting on the website since at least 2025.

Wheel of Fortune has already begun taping for this upcoming season. As of September 3rd, Wheel of Fortune has begun dubbing over Thornton’s dialogue and presumably will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. There is no word on what will happen to his voice on the thousands of episodes already on streaming sites and in syndication packages.

Jim Thornton first appeared on Wheel of Fortune in 2010, following the death of longtime announcer Charlie O’Donnell. He became the permanent announcer the following year, and his voice can be heard in over 2,000 episodes since then. He also served as a substitute announcer on The Price is Right following the death of Rod Roddy.

On September 4, 2026, Thornton has officially been fired from Wheel of Fortune. A Sony spokesperson told TMZ, “Following a thorough investigation, Jim Thornton’s employment with Wheel of Fortune has been terminated, effective immediately.” He will not make any appearances in the upcoming 44th season, which is set to begin on September 14. Thornton’s lawyer had no further comments on this matter.

Additional reporting by Cory Anotado.