Sony Pictures Television says Thornton’s employment was terminated “following a thorough investigation.”

Wheel of Fortune announcer Jim Thornton fired after suspension

Sony Pictures Television says Thornton’s employment was terminated “following a thorough investigation.”

By Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt is a writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2024. Her work has previously appeared on Yahoo and in American *Journalism Review* and *The Shreveport Times*.

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September 4, 2026 5:32 p.m. ET

Jim Thornton on the set of ‘Wheel of Fortune’. Credit:

Wheel of Fortune/YouTube

- Longtime* Wheel of Fortune* announcer Jim Thornton has been fired from the game show.

- Thornton was suspended Sept. 1 following an incident on a commercial airline flight in May.

- The voice-over actor joined the game show in 2011.

*Wheel of Fortune* announcer Jim Thornton won’t be returning** **to the game show following his suspension this month.

“Following a thorough investigation, Jim Thornton’s employment with *Wheel of Fortune* has been terminated, effective immediately,” a spokesperson for Sony Pictures Television told ** on Friday.

EW has reached out to Thornton’s lawyer.

On Sept. 1, an SPE spokesperson confirmed that Thornton, who joined the show in 2011, would be taking a forced break from the long-running TV staple.

“We have recently been made aware of allegations concerning Jim Thornton,” a spokesperson told EW in a statement. “He has been suspended from *Wheel of Fortune* and we are recasting while we conduct a thorough investigation.”

TMZ reported that issues arose after Thornton’s fellow passengers on a commercial airline flight had allegedly complained about him. The pilot had alerted law enforcement, who met Thornton when the plane landed. The TV star was questioned and released.

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An American Airlines spokesperson said, “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.”

The airline is fully cooperating ​with ​law enforcement, a source told EW.

A day later, Thornton’s lawyer clarified that he “did not engage in any illegal conduct, was not arrested, and has not been charged with any crime.”

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New details emerged Sept. 3, when *Page Six* reported that Thornton had accidentally visited an inappropriate website during the flight, prompting another customer to complain.

Thornton’s attorney Allison Hart said he was there by mistake.

“My client has 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,” she wrote in a letter to the outlet. “One of the sites my client has visited is 988lifeline.org, and its chat forum chat.988lifeline.org. Through an acquaintance in the suicide prevention space, my client was misdirected to a forum with a similar URL, the forum lifeline.chat, which my client understood to be a forum offering suicide prevention support similar to 988lifeline.org and chat.988lifeline.org.”

Jim Thornton on ‘Wheel of Fortune’.

She said he was unaware the site had anything to do with pedophilia.

“When my client understood what the website was about, he left the page and has not visited since,” Hart stated. “The website lifeline.chat itself 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.”

Thornton had not been arrested or charged with a crime.

“Law enforcement immediately confirmed that no crime had occurred and immediately told my client he was free to go,” Hart wrote. “In short, my client did nothing wrong.”

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