Sony Pictures Television said last week that it had fired Wheel of Fortune announcer Jim Thornton after reviewing an incident that was said to have occurred on an American Airlines plane in May 2026, according to The Daily Mail. Thornton, 61, was allegedly captured on camera by another traveler appearing to look at Lifeline.chat, a website its organizers have called a support chat room for people attracted to children and adolescents.
The studio said Friday that Thornton’s job with the program had been ended at once, following a short suspension. TMZ reported that the photos were taken during a trip from North Carolina to Los Angeles and that the time stamps suggested he appeared to stay in the chat for at least 57 minutes while dressed in a Wheel of Fortune jacket.
An enlarged view of the laptop screen allegedly displayed messages in which one user called a restaurant “a nice hangout for kids” and referred to “a couple of cute boys and a hot little girl.” A separate line read, “All-you-can-eat Boyffet.” Still another post used the letters “CP,” which the passenger who took the pictures believed stood for child pornography.
Lifeline.chat organizers address the controversy after Thornton’s firing
Lifeline.chat organizers sent TMZ a statement Monday that sought to separate the site from the dispute. They said the chat room forbids “any kind of illicit behavior, including the sharing of criminalized images,” and that anyone who breaks those rules is “swiftly banned and their messages removed as soon as possible.”
“LifeLine operates a support chat room for people attracted to children and adolescents,” the statement said. Organizers wrote that people often ask why such a forum exists, “because most people attracted to minors are fully capable of behaving responsibly, yet extremely distressed by the stigmatization of their feelings.”
They said giving users “a place to talk” leads to “better mental health.” As a support service, they stated, “we do not encourage users to feel shame over a sexual orientation that can never be changed,” and added, “We believe that affirming their feelings, while encouraging responsible and lawful behavior, is the best way forward.”
Organizers also said posts the public may find “offensive” are allowed “so long as they do not cross legal boundaries or put anyone at risk of harm.” They argued there is “no safe way for minor-attracted people to access professional support in the majority of cases” because of a “severe risk of being reported to authorities simply for disclosing one’s feelings.”
“The metaphorical lynching of the celebrity who allegedly visited our chat illustrates this clearly,” the organizers said. They closed by saying the site “exists precisely because the world is so incredibly hateful and punitive that minor-attracted people have no other means of support.”
Allison Hart, Thornton’s attorney, said her client reached the page by accident. She said he regularly used the suicide-prevention site 988lifeline.org and its forum, chat.988lifeline.org. Hart said Thornton claimed a contact from that group forwarded a link to Lifeline.chat and that he left once he understood what the room was.
Hart said Thornton had “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 said the page he opened is “not unlawful, there is no unlawful child pornography or other pedophilic content, and my client never viewed, downloaded or consumed any child pornography whether on that commercial flight in May or at any other time.”
Hart also said Thornton “did not engage in any illegal conduct, was not arrested, and has not been charged with any crime.” Hart’s statement that no wrongdoing occurred contrasts with other travel disruptions, such as when a North Carolina couple boarded an American flight for an international trip only to remain in North Carolina five hours later.
She said officers who asked about the passenger’s complaint spoke with him for five minutes or less, “immediately determined that no wrongdoing had occurred and told my client he was free to go.” This incident led to consequences for the announcer. The pilot then arranged for police to be waiting when the plane reached the gate. American Airlines said May 14 Flight 1276 “was met by law enforcement upon arrival at Los Angeles International Airport following concerns reported by a customer onboard.”
Sources told TMZ the program taped its 44th season starting Tuesday at Sony Studios in Los Angeles without an announcer. Insiders said Ryan Seacrest and Vanna White seemed upbeat during Monday’s session and that “there was no mention” of Thornton. After the firing, Thornton’s Facebook page was no longer open to the public, and the show’s social accounts dropped his name and pictures.
Thornton took over as announcer in 2011 after Charlie O’Donnell died in November 2010. He seldom appears on camera. He filled in for then-host Pat Sajak for one round in 2023 after a contestant asked to meet him. He also announced The Price Is Right for a short period in 2004 and has voiced parts in Disney-Pixar’s Monsters, Inc., the WALL-E video game, The Cleveland Show, and MTV’s Celebrity Deathmatch.
Published: Sep 9, 2026 08:00 am