Jim Thornton has gone dark on Facebook after being fired from “Wheel of Fortune.”
The longtime announcer, 68, deactivated his personal social media page within hours of Sony Pictures Television Studios announcing his termination last Friday, according to reports. The move followed the show’s own digital scrubbing of Thornton from its official channels, where his name and behind-the-scenes content had been featured just hours earlier.
“Jim Thornton’s employment with ‘Wheel of Fortune’ has been terminated, effective immediately,” a Sony Pictures Television Studios spokesperson said on Friday.
Thornton had been suspended since Sept. 1, when the studio first acknowledged “allegations concerning” him stemming from a May 14 incident aboard an American Airlines flight from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Los Angeles. A fellow passenger photographed Thornton appearing to participate in an online chatroom and alerted a flight attendant. The flight was met by law enforcement upon arrival at LAX.
Thornton’s attorney, Allison Hart, has repeatedly insisted her client committed no crime. “He did not engage in any illegal conduct, was not arrested and has not been charged with any crime,” Hart stressed in an initial statement. She added that law enforcement questioned Thornton for “five minutes or less” before determining “no wrongdoing had occurred” and releasing him.
On Sept. 3, Hart exclusively said that Thornton had been “misdirected” to lifeline.chat when he intended to visit chat.988lifeline.org, the legitimate suicide prevention resource. She claimed he “did not know that the website lifeline.chat claims to offer mental health support to individuals with pedophilic thoughts,” and that he “left the page and has not visited since” upon realizing its nature.
“Jim Thornton… Has never viewed, downloaded or consumed any child pornography whether on that commercial flight in May or at any other time,” Hart added, noting again that he “was never arrested or charged with a crime.”
However, the outlet published passenger-taken photos that same day showing Thornton in a “Wheel of Fortune” jacket actively engaged in the chatroom for what timestamps suggested was nearly a full hour. Images revealed messages allegedly posted by user “NicholasB77” — including that Golden Corral is a “nice hangout for kids” and that the user saw “a couple of cute boys and a hot little girl” there the previous day. The next message read: “All-you-can-eat Boyffet.”
Additional photos published Friday showed Thornton apparently searching on his phone after a flight attendant instructed him to close his laptop. The passenger said he appeared “nervous” and in “panic.” One visible search result partially read: “No link to your room: Unless you explicitly told someone ‘I am hosting this specific chatroom on for right now,’ nobody… At your internet… And link your… Identity to… Room.” Another obscured line appeared to say, “Why You… To Panic.”
Thornton joined “Wheel of Fortune” in 2011 and had been married to Sue Thornton for 35 years; the couple shares a son. He had not publicly addressed his firing as of Saturday, when representatives for both Thornton and the show declined to comment.
The show faced a significant editing challenge to remove Thornton from upcoming season episodes before the Sept. 14 debut, with the outlet reporting staff undertook the “major undertaking” of excising him from material already recorded.
Thornton had succeeded Charlie O’Donnell as announcer and became a familiar voice to millions of viewers during his nearly 15-year tenure, introducing contestants and closing episodes with his signature sign-off.