‘Wheel of Fortune’ announcer Jim Thornton fired after pedophilia chat room incident

‘Wheel of Fortune’ announcer Jim Thornton fired after pedophilia chat room incident By Alexandra Del Rosario Los Angeles Times September 7, 2026 - 9:24 am LOS ANGELES — “Wheel of Fortune” announcer Jim Thornton’s longtime tenure connected the fashionable crippled amusement is officially over. A spokesperson for Sony Pictures Television, which produces “Wheel of Fortune,” confirmed successful a connection shared with The Times on Friday that Thornton’s “employment with ‘Wheel of Fortune’ has been terminated, effectual immediately,” pursuing an investigation. Sony suspended Thornton on Tuesday amid an ongoing probe into then‑unspecified allegations. A ineligible typical for Thornton, 61, did not instantly respond to The Times’ petition for remark on Friday. A time earlier TMZ archetypal reported on the announcer’s firing, the outlet published galore photos that amusement Thornton on his laptop aboard a formation visiting a website that describes itself arsenic an enactment chat for “people who are attracted to children.” In photos taken by a neighboring passenger, Thornton’s machine surface appears to amusement messages of 1 idiosyncratic saying they “saw a mates of cute boys and a blistery small girl” at an edifice they referred to as an “All‑you‑can‑eat Boyfett” and a 2nd idiosyncratic referring to “CP,” commonly shorthand for kid pornography. The photos published by TMZ besides amusement Thornton, who is wearing an achromatic overgarment embroidered with the “Wheel of Fortune” logo on his sleeve, appearing to benignant into the chat room. Thornton’s lawyer Allison Hart told TMZ that helium became a suicide‑prevention advocator aft a loved 1 took their beingness 2 years agone and helium has since spent clip visiting situation chat rooms to connection “support to individuals suffering from suicidal ideation.” According to TMZ, Thornton claimed an acquaintance from a termination prevention radical sent him a nexus to an unrelated, non‑crisis chat country — the 1 seen successful the photos. Thornton besides reportedly said helium rapidly near the disturbing chat country “once helium recovered retired what it was.” Time stamps seen in the photos amusement Thornton remained in the chat country for astir an hour. The rider complained astir Thornton to a formation attendant and shared the photos with the crew, according to TMZ. American Airlines informed the outlet that a rider was met by instrumentality enforcement upon accomplishment at Los Angeles International Airport on May 14, though the hose did not place the individual. Thornton’s lawyer also told TMZ earlier this week that helium “did not prosecute successful immoderate amerciable conduct, was not arrested and has not been charged with immoderate crime.” “When questioned astir the ailment made by a chap rider connected the flight, instrumentality enforcement spoke to him for 5 minutes oregon less, instantly determined that nary wrongdoing had occurred and told my lawsuit helium was escaped to go,” his lawyer said. Thornton’s “Wheel of Fortune” tenure traces backmost to 2011 pursuing the decease of his predecessor, Charlie O’Donnell. His crippled amusement credits see “The Price Is Right,” “The Soup,” “Jeopardy!” and “Celebrity Wheel of Fortune.” He has performed dependable enactment for the movie “Monsters, Inc.” and video games including “Wall-E” and “Mafia II.” — (Times unit writer Andrea Flores contributed to this report.) —