Jim Thornton’s lawyer defends him amid ‘Wheel of Fortune’ suspension
A lawyer for the longtime “Wheel of Fortune” announcer issued a statement after he was suspended from the show ahead of its Season 44 premiere.
Editor’s note: This story contains details some readers may find disturbing.
More details about the alleged circumstances that led to Jim Thornton’s suspension as the announcer for “Wheel of Fortune” are coming to light.
On Sept. 3, TMZ published photos purportedly showing Thornton, 61, browsing a website on his laptop while on a flight in May. The outlet said the images were provided by a passenger who lodged a complaint with American Airlines. The website appears to be a chat forum with some exchanges referencing sexual content, including a mention of minors, and a link to an Instagram post highlighting the arrest of a man in London for viewing indecent images of children on his phone while on public transportation.
Two days before the photos were published, Thornton’s attorney sent a letter to the outlet, which was obtained by USA TODAY on Sept. 2, denouncing its first report on the voice actor’s suspension.
“My client did not engage in any illegal conduct, was not arrested, and has not been charged with any crime,” the lawyer wrote. “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.”
USA TODAY confirmed there was a complaint made on a flight in May. “On May 14, American Airlines Flight 1276 was met by law enforcement upon arrival at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) following concerns reported by a customer onboard,” an American Airlines spokesperson said in a statement.
USA TODAY has reached out to airport police for comment.
According to Thornton’s attorney, the “Wheel of Fortune” announcer became active in suicide-prevention advocacy since losing a close family member to suicide two years ago and was “misdirected to a forum with a similar URL” to the crisis help sites 988lifeline.org and chat.988lifeline.org by “an acquaintance in the suicide prevention space.”
Thornton did not know that the website he visited “claims to offer mental health support to individuals with pedophilic thoughts,” the lawyer wrote.
“When my client understood what the website was about, he left the page and has not visited since,” the lawyer continued, adding the website is “not unlawful, there is no unlawful child pornography or other pedophilic content, and my client has never viewed, downloaded or consumed any child pornography whether on that commercial flight in May or at any other time.”
It concluded, “In short, my client did nothing wrong.”
What ‘Wheel of Fortune’ said about Jim Thornton’s suspension
Though the status of the internal investigation remains unclear, Sony moved quickly to recast Thornton, who has announced for the game show since 2011. In a Sept. 1 statement to USA TODAY, a spokesperson confirmed Thornton’s suspension but declined to address details of the investigation.
“We have recently been made aware of allegations concerning Jim Thornton,” the Sony spokesperson said. “He has been suspended from Wheel of Fortune and we are recasting while we conduct a thorough investigation.”
“Wheel of Fortune,” which stars cohosts Ryan Seacrest and Vanna White, is currently airing reruns ahead of the premiere of Season 44 on Monday, Sept. 14.