'Jeopardy' contestant Kelly Donohue faces backlash after he uses 'racist' hand gesture

Jeopardy contestant Kelly Donohue created a buzz on the internet after he made a gesture during his introduction. Netizens went on to bash him for making a hand gesture that appears to be offensive and racist. They went on to ask him the reason behind making the gesture. During the introduction, Kelly made an upside-down "ok" sign which has been labelled as racist. This sign is usually used by hate groups, particularly the ones who belong to the group of white supremacists. Some users went on to shame the contestant and others questioned the show about the reason behind airing the episode. Check out the Jeopardy contestant making the hand gesture and how netizens reacted to it. 

Jeopardy contestant faces backlash for his hand gesture 

Why did he receive hate for the hand gesture? 

In the year 2019, the "OK" hand gesture was classified by Anti-Defamation League as a hate symbol. They went on to call the symbol "modern calling cards of hate". With the ongoing situation of racism, people have been very attentive about such hate speech and symbols. As per the league, the hand gesture was co-opted in 2017 by trolls who went on to say that it looks like "W" and "P" which signifies White Power. There was a hate crime in 2019, where a white man used the gesture before the mass shooting, hence people have been calling out others who use such symbols. 

About Jeopardy

Jeopardy is a television game show which is created by Merv Griffin. The show revolves around a quiz competition where contestants are asked some general knowledge answers and they have to form a question out of it. The show first aired in 1964 and since then, it has been going on for over 37 seasons and 8000 episodes. The show had multiple sister series which includes a weekly nighttime syndicated edition and All-New Jeopardy! The daily syndicated version of Jeopardy! has won a record 39 Daytime Emmy Awards. The 2021 Jeopady's host is Buzzy Cohen who was Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions winner in the year 2017. 

Promo Image Source: Still from Jeopardy