Former “Wheel of Fortune” announcer Jim Thornton seemingly shut down his Facebook account after he was fired by the show Friday.
asserted
he → shut → show
The game show personality’s social media account went “dark” just “hours” after news broke that he’d been officially axed, according to TMZ.
uncertain
he → go → TMZ
The outlet also reported Friday that Thornton had been “scrubbed” from the iconic program’s social media channels, with his name and image disappearing.
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name → report → channels
Per TMZ, the page — which previously contained “behind-the-scenes photos and videos of Jim on the popular game show set” — had been active earlier Friday.
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which → contain → set
Reps for Thornton and “Wheel of Fortune” did not immediately respond to Page Six’s requests for comment Saturday.
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Reps → respond → comment
“Jim Thornton’s employment with ‘Wheel of Fortune’ has been terminated, effective immediately,” a Sony Pictures Television Studios spokesperson told Page Six Friday.
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spokesperson → terminate → Fortune
Prior to that, on Sept. 1, the company said in a statement to us that they’d “been made aware of allegations concerning Jim Thornton,” referencing the May 14 incident aboard an American Airlines flight from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Los Angeles.
“He has been suspended from ‘Wheel of Fortune,’ and we are recasting while we conduct a thorough investigation.”
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we → say → investigation
An American Airlines representative said that the flight “was met by law enforcement upon arrival at Los Angeles International Airport following concerns reported by a customer onboard.”
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flight → say → customer
Thornton’s lawyer, Allison Hart, stressed that the ex-announcer “did not engage in any illegal conduct, was not arrested and has not been charged with any crime” — and that he was released after being questioned.
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he → stress → crime
“When questioned about the complaint made by a fellow passenger on the flight, law enforcement spoke to [Thornton] for five minutes or less, immediately determined that no wrongdoing had occurred and told my client he was free to go,” Hart added.
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Hart → question → client
Hart then exclusively told Page Six on Sept. 3 that Thornton had been “misdirected” to lifeline.chat when he meant to visit 988lifeline.org and its chat forum, chat.988lifeline.org — the latter websites which provide support for individuals experiencing suicidal thoughts.
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which → tell → thoughts
While stressing that Thornton “did nothing wrong,” the attorney claimed he “did not know that the website lifeline.chat claims to offer mental health support to individuals with pedophilic thoughts,” and claimed he allegedly “left the page and has not visited since” when he realized the site’s nature.
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he → stress → nature
Hart also claimed lifeline.chat itself “is not unlawful” and contains “no unlawful child pornography or other pedophilic content.”
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lifeline.chat → claim → pornography
Hart added that her famous client “has never viewed, downloaded or consumed any child pornography whether on that commercial flight in May or at any other time,” noting that the former announcer “was never arrested or charged with a crime” and stressing that cops “immediately confirmed that no crime had occurred” before releasing him.
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crime → add → him
However, TMZ published photos taken by a passenger seated next to Thornton on the American Airlines flight just hours after Page Six shared Hart’s statement on Sept. 3.
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Page → publish → Sept.
The images showed Thornton — clad in a “Wheel of Fortune” jacket — in the chatroom during the flight, with timestamps seemingly indicating the chat went on for nearly a full hour.
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chat → show → hour
In a pair of the images, messages allegedly posted by Thornton under the username “NicholasB77″ were seen in the chat bar.
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messages → post → bar
User “NicholasB77” seemingly commented that the Golden Corral restaurant is a “nice hangout for kids” and that they saw “a couple of cute boys and a hot little girl” while dining there the day before.
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they → comment → boys
They added in the next message, “All-you-can-eat Boyffet.”
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you → add → Boyffet
Thornton — who has been married for 35 years to Sue Thornton, with whom he shares a son — has not been arrested or charged in connection with the incident, and has yet to address his firing from the show after nearly 15 years.
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he → share → years
(He joined in 2011.)
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He → join → 2011
On Friday, TMZ published additional images shared by the concerned airplane passenger seemingly indicating Thornton was experiencing “panic” after a flight attendant told him to shut down his laptop.
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attendant → publish → laptop
The person told the outlet he appeared “nervous.”
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he → tell → outlet
In the photos, Thornton apparently typed an unknown question into Google’s search engine on his phone, with A.I. response returning an answer that appeared illegible in several spots.
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that → type → spots
“No link to your room: Unless you explicitly told someone ‘I am hosting this specific chatroom on for right now,’ nobody … at your internet … and link your … identity to … room,” the images read.
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images → tell → room
An additional line — heavily obscured by Thornton’s hand — read, “Why You … to Panic.”
Conversation
Your voice matters.
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voice → obscure → hand
Discussions are moderated for civility.
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Discussions → moderate → civility
TMZ reported on Friday that Jim Thornton, seen above in January, has deleted his Facebook account.
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Thornton → report → account
The outlet also reported that the ex-"Wheel of Fortune" announcer, seen here in a promotional video, had been "scrubbed" from the game show's social media pages.
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announcer → report → pages
YouTube/Wheel of Fortune
Thornton, pictured above in 2013, was fired from "Wheel of Fortune" Friday in connection with an incident on an American Airlines flight in May.
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Thornton → picture → May
TMZ published photos of the incident, in which Thornton was photographed engaging in an alleged pedophilia chatroom, as seen above.
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Thornton → publish → chatroom
Sony Pictures Television Studios announced earlier this week that an investigation had been launched and Thornton, seen above on the show, had been suspended.
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Thornton → announce → show
YouTube/Wheel of Fortune
Thornton's employment was subsequently "terminated, effective immediately,” a spokesperson for the company confirmed to Page Six.
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spokesperson → terminate → Page
An attorney for Thornton, seen here in 2013, denied wrongdoing and said that he'd mistakenly clicked on a link.
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he → see → link
Thornton, pictured above in a previous video, has not been arrested or charged in connection with the incident.
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Thornton → picture → incident
He has not personally addressed his firing.
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He → address → firing
