‘Jeopardy!’ contestant slammed for arrogant behavior

TV

By Jack Hobbs

What is unsportsmanlike conduct?

One “Jeopardy!” contestant is being blasted by fans after he was seemingly rude to fellow challengers while appearing on the show Friday.

Contestant Aaron Craig, who competed on the show’s Champions Wildcard tournament, drew the ire of some die-hard fans after he clapped for himself when host Ken Jennings announced that Craig was the winner of the night’s game.

“I turned the TV off after the self-congratulatory behavior,” one viewer said on Reddit. “I certainly am not rooting for this guy to win and not even sure if I’ll watch the rest of the tournament. I’ve watched Jeopardy for decades and don’t recall seeing such rudeness.”

“The clapping at the end was unnecessary,” another Redditor added.

“My husband and I looked at each other with mouths agape lol. It was wild,” a third person said.

Other fans defended Craig, arguing his gesture was justified.

“Heaven forbid a contestant have enough situational awareness to understand the importance of that clue and celebrate a little when he beat out two tough competitors to it,” one fan posted.

“In Aaron’s defense, it can be hard to keep your emotions in check on stage,” former Champions Wildcard winner Jilana Cotter commented. “In one of my games (I have no idea which one) I was so mad that I’d rung in with an incorrect answer that I stomped my foot.” She added that “the adrenaline does wild things to you.”

Craig further irked fans during the show’s Final Jeopardy! round after Jennings, 49, read the “British History” clue.

“At Leicester Cathedral in March 2015, the Archbishop of Canterbury led a religious ceremony for this deceased English monarch,” Jennings read.

After both competitors wagered — and lost — all the money they had made during the game, Craig also failed to guess the correct answer, which was King Richard III, but only wagered $32 and was left standing with a whopping $9,768.

As Jennings announced that Craig would advance to the final round of the tournament, the Canadian lawyer blew a kiss into the audience and began chanting something indistinguishable.

The action left more people complaining about his behavior.

Later that night, a person claiming to be Craig wrote an apology note on the Reddit forum.

“TJ [Tallie] and Leah [Wiegand] are amazing and lovely and brilliant, and either one would have been a great and deserving winner today,” Craig allegedly wrote. “I’m sorry if I got overly excited. I certainly didn’t mean to show anybody up, but my kids were there and I couldn’t believe that they got to watch me not just play in a semifinal, but win!

“Anyone who thinks I was over the top, that’s 1000% fair,” Craig reportedly added. “No argument here.”